''The Green Road'' is a 2015 novel by Irish author

Anne Enright Anne Teresa Enright (born 11 October 1962) is an Irish writer. She has published seven novels, many short stories and a non-fiction work called ''Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood'', about the birth of her two children. Her writing explo ...

. It is the sixth novel by Enright and concerns the lives of the Madigan family - four children and their mother Rosaleen. A critical success, it was called "virtuosic" by ''

Telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...

'' critic Anthony Cummins.

Plot summary

Part One: Leaving

The first half of the novel concerns each family member individually and goes chronologically from 1980 to 2005. Each of the four Madigan children and their mother Rosaleen receive a chapter of their own beginning with Hanna Madigan. Hanna's chapter is the only one that focuses on a family member as a child and deals with her relationship with her father. She is traumatised by viewing the culling of a chicken for dinner on her grandmother's farm. Dan Madigan's story jumps forward to 1991 during his time in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with his fiancé as his repressed homosexuality comes to the fore during the

AIDS epidemic The global epidemic of HIV/AIDS (human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) began in 1981, and is an ongoing worldwide public health issue. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2021, HIV/AI ...

. Constance Madigan's chapter is based in 1997

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

and focusses on the domestic roles of mother and wife. Constance must balance the concerns of her health that make her face her own mortality. Emmet's chapter takes place in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

in 2002 as he works with impoverished children and is haunted by previous relief work he has been involved with. His relationship with a woman named Alice slowly unravels and deteriorates. Rosaleen ends the first half of the novel with a rumination on her life and her future as an older woman. She decides to sell the house and writes to all her children accordingly to gather together for Christmas for one last year at the old family home.

Part Two: Coming Home

The second half of the novel concerns the family members coming home and for some of them meeting each other as new people. Coming Home begins by succinctly placing the Madigan children as they get ready to return and the hustle and bustle of Christmas travel. The novel humorously covers the chaos of Christmas shopping last minute and the vanity of

Celtic Tiger The "Celtic Tiger" ( ga, An Tíogar Ceilteach) is a term referring to the economy of the Republic of Ireland, economy of Ireland from the mid-1990s to the late 2000s, a period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment. ...

Ireland. ''The Green Road'' culminates upon a scene of gothic imagery as Rosaleen goes missing on Christmas Night. A search party is called and struggles to find her before eventually securing her late into a particularly bad winter night. A few short chapters tie up everything ending with Rosaleen having run away yet again having arrived at Emmet's doorstep in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. She claims to have been kicked out but a phone call reveals that Constance is sick again, and that Rosaleen flew away rather than deal with the reality of the situation.

Critical reception

Upon release ''The Green Road'' received warm praise from the literary press including

Belinda McKeon Belinda McKeon (born 1979) is an Irish writer. She is the author of two novels, ''Solace'', which won the 2011 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, and ''Tender'' (2015). Life and work McKeon was born in Longford and attended Trinity College, Dublin, ...

of ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' who praised the novel as "unnervingly knowing prose".

Nicholas Lezard Nicholas Andrew Selwyn LezardThe Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 814 is an English journalist, author and literary critic. Background and education The Lezard family went from London to Ki ...

of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' positively stated that "the writing at the level of the sentence is so sharp and good. It is not so much that it alerts you to its own brilliance, but that it captures, as lightly and deftly as you could wish, the internal cadences of the person being written about."

Accolades and nominations

''The Green Road'' was nominated for The 2016

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

, longlisted for the

2015 Man Booker Prize The 2015 Booker Prize for Fiction was awarded at a ceremony on 13 October 2015. A longlist of thirteen titles was announced on 29 July, narrowed down to a shortlist of six titles on 15 September. Judging panel * Michael Wood (Chair) * Ellah Wakatam ...

, and shortlisted for the 2017

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. Enright won the

Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award is an annual award for Irish authors of fiction, established in 1995. It was previously known as the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award (1995–2000), the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Award ( ...

for 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Green Road, The 2015 Irish novels 2015 LGBT-related literary works 2010s LGBT novels Irish LGBT novels Jonathan Cape books Novels about HIV/AIDS Novels by Anne Enright Novels set in Dublin (city) Novels set in New York City Novels with gay themes McClelland & Stewart books W. W. Norton & Company books