The Gathering

By: Anne Enright

Narrated by: Terry Donnelly

Man Booker Prize, Fiction, 2007

Regarded as one of her country's foremost voices, Irish author Anne Enright makes a fresh mark on a rich literary tradition. The Gathering is a deeply insightful family saga, steeped in secrets and intrigue, unfolding over three generations.

©2007 Ann Enright (P)2008 Recorded Books

Critic reviews

"Enright's hypnotic prose turns...desperation into something fierce and beautiful." ( Booklist)
"A melancholic love and rage bubbles just beneath the surface of this Dublin clan, and Enright explores it unflinchingly." ( Publishers Weekly)

Dark side of large families

Not just fun & games. The insiders view to a grieving family with secrets within secrets

Depressing and tedious

This is tediously written and the narrator is depressed and depressing. It seems to touch on all the stereotypes of the Irish: alcoholism, dysfunctional families, abuse. More than half way into it, I just couldn't take the narrative any more or the constant switching from present to past and the it-might-have-happened-this-way approach. Ugh!

Beautiful, but hard to finish

Beautiful language, less than compelling story. I didn't feel engaged or care about the characters. Author is an exceedingly skilled writer, but I left this feeling less than satisfied.

Didn’t like this book

I found this book very disjointed and hard to follow.
I would like to return it. I did not finish it

The story began well, but then was about dull sex

I enjoyed the beginnimg of the story bery much, but then was disappointed by numerous descriptioms of dull sex. The male organ is mentioned exhaustively. A story of pedophilia is part of the last seberal chapters. I can't recommend this book.