The Deposition of Father McGreevy

(Paperback)

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"It should have won all the prizes" DORIS LESSING

"Enthralling, chilling and memorable" Sunday Telegraph

"So original that the text is illuminating" The Times

"Remarkable and haunting" Guardian

In a London pub in the 1950s, editor William Maginn is intrigued by a reference to the reputedly shameful demise of a remote mountain village in Kerry, Ireland, where he was born. Maginn returns to Kerry and uncovers an astonishing tale: both the account of the destruction of a place and a way of life which once preserved Ireland s ancient traditions, and the tragedy of an increasingly isolated village where the women mysteriously die leaving the priest, Father McGreevy, to cope.

McGreevy struggles to preserve what remains of his parish, and against the rough mountain elements, the grief and superstitions of his people, and the growing distrust in the town below. Rich in the details of Irish lore and life, and a gripping exploration of both the locus of misfortune and the nature of evil, its narrative evokes both a time and a place with the accuracy of a keen unsentimental eye, and renders its characters with heartfelt depth.

Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

Reviews

Enthralling, chilling and memorable -- Shena Mackay * Sunday Telegraph *
So original that the text is illuminating * The Times *
This priestly deposition develops into a grand examination of blind faith. The shiver at the end chills right down to the soul * Times Literary Supplement *
Magical to the core. Read it and be smitten by this masterpiece as I was -- Walter Abish
It should have won all the prizes, but it is too raw and painful for that . . . such a powerful book, so truthful -- Doris Lessing
O'Doherty's powerful and sometimes magical writing keeps a reader closely involved * New York Review of Books *
Both powerful and understated, reminiscent in more than one way of Conrad's Heart of Darkness . . . it is remarkable and haunting * Guardian *
Eerily compelling * Elle *
Passionate, deeply felt, and utterly compelling -- Robert McCrum * The Times *
O'Doherty has created a vivid narrative voice. His Ireland is primal, menacing, chthonic: the story is strange and compelling * Observer *

Author Bio

BRIAN O'DOHERTY was born in County Roscommon in 1928. A gifted polymath, he has been a doctor, conceptual artist, art historian, critic, film-maker, author of numerous books, art reviewer for the New York Times and editor-in-chief of Art in America. His novels include The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. (1992; winner of the Sagittarius Prize), The Deposition of Father McGreevy (1999; shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2000), and The Crossdresser's Secret (2015). Also known as the conceptual and installation artist Patrick Ireland - he changed his name in reaction to the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in 1972 - he was until recently professor of fine arts and media at Long Island University, and he also taught film criticism for 25 years at Barnard College. He is the author of numerous works of art criticism, including American Masters and the influential essays 'Inside the White Cube' and 'The Voice and the Myth'. He lives in New York with his wife, Barbara Novak, the art historian