The Gathering by Anne Enright

The Gathering by Anne Enright is the winner of the Man Booker Prize. Set in Dublin, the novel opens as the nine surviving children of the Hegarty family come together for the wake of their brother, Liam.

Liam’s death is not attributed solely to drink, though it played a part; the story points instead to what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother’s house during the winter of 1968. The book is described as a novel of love and disappointment, of thwarted lust and limitless desire, and of the idea that fate is written in the body rather than in the stars.

Key details

• Author: Anne Enright
• Winner of the Man Booker Prize
• Set in Dublin

Synopsis

Nine siblings from the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their brother Liam. Although drink contributed to his death, the novel suggests the deeper cause lies in an experience from his childhood, in his grandmother’s house in the winter of 1968. It is presented as a story of love and disappointment, desire and frustration, and the belief that fate is carried in the body rather than written in the stars.