''On Canaan's Side'' is a 2011 novel written by Irish playwright and novelist

Sebastian Barry Sebastian Barry (born 5 July 1955) is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He was named Laureate for Irish Fiction, 2019–2021. He is noted for his lyrical literary writing style and is considered one of Ireland's finest writers. Barry's l ...

Plot

The novel is narrated by the 89-year-old Lily Bere, the sister of ''

Annie Dunne ''Annie Dunne'' is a novel written by author and playwright Sebastian Barry. First published by Faber and Faber in 2002 it is currently under reprint from Penguin Books.Sebastian ISBN Set in rural Ireland in the late 1950s the novel recounts the l ...

'' (2002) and Willie Dunne from ''

A Long Long Way ''A Long Long Way'' is a novel by Irish author Sebastian Barry, set during the First World War. Plot synopsis The young protagonist Willie Dunne leaves Dublin to fight voluntarily for the Allies as a member of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, leavin ...

'' (2005), and the daughter of the character Thomas Dunne from ''

The Steward of Christendom ''The Steward of Christendom'' is a 1995 play written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry. It focuses on Thomas Dunne, loosely based on Barry's great-grandfather, the former chief superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, now (1932) conf ...

'' (1995), as she looks back on her life, having lived through the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

and escaped to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

with her boyfriend Tadg Bere. The Cleveland East Ohio Gas explosion of 1944 is referenced within the story and plays an important role in the plot.

Awards and honors

*2011

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

, longlist *2012

Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter Sc ...

, winner

References

External links

Review
in ''The Guardian'' {{Sebastian Barry 2011 Irish novels Novels by Sebastian Barry Novels set in Ireland Novels set in Chicago Walter Scott Prize-winning works Faber and Faber books