I have previously enjoyed ‘Night Boat to Tangier’,so was delighted to get the opportunity to read an early edition of ‘The Heart in Winter’ by Kevin Barry.This time the setting is the old wild west of Montana in 1891.
Initially this is wonderful poetic prose at its best,yet the story seems quite meandering and slightly unclear.There is on first impression a depiction of a wasted life spent stumbling around, with the doomed depression of the drunken doped up exiled Irish despondent.Yet the entire population of the narrative feels based in harsh reality and beyond the compromise of pure cliches.The backdrop is painted so vividly, the landscape for what follows is truly panoramic,and sets the scene magnificently,regards time and place.
Thus when Tom Rourke and Polly Gillespie first meet up,the story really kicks into gear.The tension of temptation,passion,and trouble afoot is tangible from the start.
There follows an absorbing and at times frantic tale of lovers fleeing through a perilous environment ,pursued by those determined to destroy their dreams of a shared future in a new promised land.