Perils of the Rustic Life

By Paul Gray

People hankering for a peaceful, rustic existence should probably curl up with Edna O'Brien's splendid new novel Wild Decembers (Houghton Mifflin; 272 pages; $24) before moving to the sticks. Things are not as pleasant in the tiny western Irish village of Cloontha as the scenery suggests. Michael Bugler has arrived fresh from a sheep farm in Australia to claim the land left to him by a deceased uncle, and the newcomer's presence stirs up the villagers. Especially agitated is Joseph Brennan, whose ancestral farm borders Bugler's property. Brennan tries to be neighborly, but his true spirit bubbles up after a few drinks: "Who came first, Bugler or Brennan? The Brennans came first, the Brennans of the moor."

Relations between the two men skid into a series of affronts, real or perceived, while Breege, Brennan's younger sister, looks on with mounting dread. She loves her brother but also feels, in spite of herself, drawn to the stranger. When Brennan senses her interest, he strikes her and accuses her of siding with the enemy.

There are moments in O'Brien's tale when a sensible, peaceful resolution of the dispute between Brennan and Bugler seems possible. The antagonists are stubborn rather than malevolent, and when their lawyers begin exchanging letters and scheduling court appearances, the whole dispute looks ready to subside into protracted legal wrangling.

But the inhabitants of Cloontha relish the fight for its entertainment and gossip value, and they egg Brennan on whenever his resentment shows signs of flagging. Blood feuds have been a way of life in this village for longer than anyone can remember, and O'Brien's evocative prose shows the chilling hold that history and the dead clamp on the living.

--P.G.