DEPOSITION OF FATHER MCGREEVY

O'Doherty's Ireland is primal, menacing, chthonic in his novel reminiscent of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. In a London pub in the 1950s, editor William Maginn is intrigued by a reference to the reputedly shameful demise of a remote mountain village in Kerry, Ireland, where he was born. Maginn returns to Kerry and uncovers an astonishing tale, both the account of the destruction of a place and a way of life once preserved Ireland's ancient traditions, and the tragedy of an increasingly isolated village where the women mysteriously die, leaving the priest, Father McGreevy, to cope. He struggles to preserve what remains of his parish and against the rough mountain elements, the grief and superstitions of his people, and the growing distrust in the town below, this is a gripping exploration of the nature of evil. The novel and the narrative evokes both a time and a place with its unsentimental eye and heartfelt characters. 314pp, paperback.