The Whereabouts Of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry

 

Eneas McNulty is born in Sligo, Ireland.  He is the eldest of four children, two other sons and a daughter.  As he grows up, he has a best friend, Jonno.  But life is not always fair.  When Eneas grows up, there are no jobs to be had.  He joins the police in a neighboring town but that puts him at odds with the men fighting for Ireland's freedom and they put him on their blacklist.

To avoid death, Eneas must leave his childhood home, his family and his love, Viv.  He wanders for the rest of his life, as each time he comes home he finds that the blacklist is still in force and the men who hate him still plan to kill him.  He fights in World War II, sails on ships, spends several years in Africa where he meets his best friend and finally ends up back in England where he runs a hotel for other old sailors and soldiers.  He never marries, never has a family of his own for the hate that is endemic to Ireland will never let him settle. 

Barry is considered one of the premier Irish novelists and served as Laureate For Irish Fiction for several years.  His books have been nominated five times for the Booker Prize.  This novel is the start of a trilogy about the McNulty family.  Barry is known for his poetic writing with imagery that takes the reader immediately to the places he writes about.  It explores the chaos of the Irish Rebellion and the start of the Troubles where friend is pitted against friend and brother against brother.   Once one is designated as a traitor their life in Ireland was over.  It also outlines the need for family or friends and how an individual deprived of them is the saddest person ever.  This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.