A Nest of Simple Folk

by Seán O'Faoláin

1934 First Edition

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1934

Reviews

[ThePageGobbler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading that SOF had criticized O’Malley for excessive descriptive sections in his writing, and while he himself is no mug when it comes to the written word, by about page 325 of this novel I was wishing he’d applied the same censure to his own Easter 1916 novel. What starts as an atmospheric bit of Irish Gothic turns into endless pages describing Cork, Limerick and the rivers Shannon and Deel, such that the ambitious family plot never really acquires much momentum. As a short-story writer SOF definitely deserves some credit for trying to turn the story of Fenianism into a historical/family epic but the characters are never particularly engaging and there are some irritating questions left behind by the plot (not least in that every member of the O’Donnell family enjoys a remarkably good innings).