Across the River

June 11, 2001
A family feud is brewing in the rural depths of 1960s Ireland in this comfortable but unremarkable second novel by Taylor, a sequel to her first, The Woman in the House. At Mossgrove, the Phelan family farm, longtime hired hand Jack plays peacemaker as widow Martha Phelan battles her young son, Peter, who wants to modernize the farm. Tensions on the home front are bitter enough, but at the Conway farm across the river, more trouble is brewing. Slovenly Matt Conway, who has "wisps of foxy hair" and a "fascination with rats," feels trapped and abuses his wife, Biddy. Spurred on by a misguided belief that the Phelans got the best of him in a loan to buy land, he keeps vigil at a fence post plotting revenge and finally sets fire to the Phelan's freshly stacked hay. Then the town's parish priest, Father Brady—goaded by malicious gossip about his relationship with happily married Kate Phelan, Martha's sister-in-law—issues a sermon on protecting the "fruits of the Earth." Martha finally buries the hatchet with Peter as the family is faced with a serious matter that ties the book up nicely for readers, and Father Brady displays a sharp right hook to match his fiery rhetoric. Despite characterizations that lack complexity, Taylor's flair for the dramatic creates an atmosphere of suspense, and folksy witticisms and homey evocations of rural life round out the tale.