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Charming Billy.
McDermott, Alice (author).
Jan. 1998. 256p. Farrar, hardcover, $21 (0-374-12080-3).
REVIEW.
First published December 15, 1997 (Booklist).
McDermott’s novels all start slowly and build steam as the story takes hold. Her latest is set in a close-knit Irish American neighborhood, taking place between the end of World War II and the present. Billy Lynch’s friends and family have gathered in a bar-and-grill (ironically, since Billy’s alcoholism caused his death) to mourn him. They recall Billy’s charm and his troubles, including an addiction to alcohol and “that Irish girl.” Eva, the Irish girl whom Billy met following the war while she was working as a nursemaid to a wealthy New York family, went home to Ireland engaged to Billy. However, as Billy learns from Dennis, his oldest friend, Eva died from tuberculosis before she could return to Billy and be married. The narrator of the story, Dennis’ daughter, reflects on the mysteries of love and fate and the terrible result of lies told to spare a friend pain. Issues of faith and the possibility of change are also at the heart of this thoughtful and finely constructed work, McDermott’s best.— Nancy Pearl
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