The Last Storyteller

Starred review from March 12, 2012
The riveting final installment of Delaney's Ben McCarthy trilogy (after The Matchmaker of Kenmare) explores the protagonist's relationship with lost love Venetia and his folklore studies with legendary storyteller John Jacob Farrell O'Neill. O'Neill's gift for spinning a yarn is a powerful one, and McCarthy discovers that O'Neill's stories verge on the prophetic, lending this engaging historical a shade of magical realism. McCarthy opens up to O'Neill about Venetia (whom he impregnated when he was much younger), but who is now married to an abusive, deceitful performerâGentleman Jack. McCarthy also finds himself unwittingly involved with IRA revolutionaries determined to reunite north and south Ireland, even if it means disturbing the countries' young peace. McCarthy finally resolves to liberate Venetia from her cruel husband during one of his hypnotic performances, but the troubled Venetia soon flees her rescuer. Both menâdesperate to right the wrongs for which they hold one another responsibleâescalate tensions to dangerous levels, while McCarthy struggles to assume O'Neill's mantle as preeminent storyteller and locate his beloved Venetia. Long-time fans of the trilogy will relish its conclusion, while new readersâthough likely to feel lost at the outsetâwill quickly warm to Delaney's vividly described Ireland of the 1950s, its fully-realized inhabitants, and the dynamic political and personal relationships that make for a remarkable story.

March 1, 2012
Irish-born novelist Delaney (Ireland, 2005, etc.) spins another charming mix of cotton-candy romance and history. When we last left Ben MacCarthy, world war, social upheaval and sometimes-requited love were thick in the air. Now, at the start of Delaney's latest, we find him across the pond, facing "a frigid Saturday in late 1956, in my struggling, depressed native land." He has a job well suited to his curious and artful mind, gathering stories from old-timers, notable among them a yarn maestro who "had, naturally, pored over the monkish volumes, but he had also heard many of his stories in the old ancestral way, in his own home." Ahem: a man who collects blarney may just commit some on his own, and McCarthy, whom we suspect of being a stand-in for Delaney himself, is a gifted practitioner of the trade. He's not quite prepared, though, for the return of his beloved Venetia, star of stage and--well, stage--who, having split the blanket in the previous volume in Delaney's saga, Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show (2010), breezes merrily back into his life. Or, better, the life of poor battered Ireland, for it's one of Ben's pals who has the task of telling him that she's turned up nearly a quarter-century later: "She's touring the country. But I'm sure you know it. And you're avoiding it." Just to rub it in, the friend adds that she's just as beautiful as ever, and lonely. Well, gents, start your storytelling engines: Ben roams up and down the old sod seeking both stories and solace, affording Delaney plenty of opportunities for his hallmark tricks of the trade, from Quiet Man-style fisticuffs to goofy asides ("If Greece may be considered the birthplace of the rhetorical question, call Ireland the country that robbed it of all meaning") and fourth-wall demolition ("The youngster who found the bodies, as I expect you've guessed, had come from the local hall"). The story line isn't exactly Ulysses, but Delaney makes the most of it to craft a light and pleasing entertainment.

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 15, 2012

Ben McCarthy, the protagonist of Delaney's previous novels of Ireland, roams the country collecting lore for the Folklore Commission. Haunted by the memories of his estranged wife, Venetia Kelly, and the children he's never met, McCarthy encounters John O'Neill, a storyteller in the ancient style, whose tales foreshadow McCarthy's own experiences in late-Fifties Ireland and serve as stunning testaments to the healing power of storytelling. Rather than assume heroic proportions, though, McCarthy's travels and encounters vivify the achingly human dimensions of O'Neill's stories. Reunited with Venetia and their children, McCarthy embraces his destiny as suggested in O'Neill's narratives and, ultimately, by the storyteller's own heroic life. VERDICT Set against the turbulent backdrop of the sectarian violence that would lead to the Troubles in the Sixties, this novel is a stirring showcase for Delaney's skill at mingling lyrical fiction and historical fact. It beautifully concludes the romantic trajectory set in motion in Venetia Kelly's Travelling Show and The Matchmaker of Kenmare. [See Prepub Alert, 8/21/11.]--J. Greg Matthews, Washington State Univ. Libs., Pullman

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.