“There’s pleasure to be had in history. What’s recent is another matter and painful to recall.” ( from the story “Walk the Blue Fields”)

Walk the Blue Fields by Claire Keegan is a collection of seven stories revolving around the themes of loss, regret, missed opportunities, and loneliness. From forbidden love, unhappy marriages and child abuse to gender identity, infidelity and misogyny- these stories explore some of the most complex aspects of human relationships and behavior. The tone of most of these stories borders on melancholic. Few authors can depict raw human emotion with such eloquence as Claire Keegan. Keegan’s characters are real and relatable – in their flaws, in their virtues and their simplicity. At this point after reading so many of this author’s works, I associate Claire Keegan with her clear, elegant and dream-like quality of writing, vivid imagery and deeply evocative stories. I am happy to say that with this collection, the author does not disappoint.

The first story, "The Parting Gift" is about a young girl preparing to leave her home and family in Ireland. As she prepares to leave for America, her memories take her back to a lifetime of abuse and neglect and we know that she will never willingly return to this life. The title story “Walk the Blue Fields” revolves around a priest, unable and unwilling to break his vows for the woman he loves, who ends up officiating her marriage. “Dark Horses” sees a man lamenting the loss of a good woman whom he has driven away with his thoughtless, misogynistic behavior. In “The Forester's Daughter” a man brings home a dog he finds in the forest which his daughter mistakenly assumes is a birthday gift for her. I had previously read The Foresters Daughter ( which was published as a solo edition by Faber and Faber. You can read my review here .) Another story, “Close to the Water's Edge”, with some variation, appears in Keegan’s “Antarctica”, another of her short story collections. Here we meet a young gay man who celebrates his birthday with his mother and homophobic stepfather – a celebration he exits when the indirect slurs become too much to bear. “Surrender(After McGahern)” is the story of a police sergeant who is unwilling to commit to the woman with whom he has been in a relationship. When she sends him a letter stating her intention to end their relationship, he devours a crate of oranges ( an act of solace or self-indulgence?) before he decides to “surrender”. The final story in the collection, "Night of the Quicken Trees" incorporates folklore, Irish superstitions and magical realism in a tale about an unlikely relationship between a superstitious woman and her neighbor, a loner who lives with his goat.

“Putting the past into words seemed idle when the past had already happened. The past was treacherous, moving slowly along. It would catch up in its own time. And in any case, what could be done? Remorse altered nothing and grief just brought it back.” ( from the story "Night of the Quicken Trees")

I will not rate these stories separately because I found each one to be special in its own way, which is rare in a short story collection. At the end of the book, Keegan includes a brief segment on the folklore, specific terminology and geography featured in some of the stories. I would recommend reading that part before reading the stories.

I absolutely loved this collection of short stories. A must-read for fans of this immensely talented writer. ( )

Prize-winning Irish author Claire Keegan is a gifted storyteller. She writes various short fiction from short stories to novellas*, she works with a brew, mixing brevity, emotional depth, a cast of very fallible and relatable humans...all in a way to pull in and bewitch the reader. It's as simple as that. I acquired and read her books in the order written, but it is no means obligatory.

*the latest is being marketed as a "short novel" but it's really another novella.

***This is a review written for her work generally, as I read these one after the other:-) ( )

I've found a new Irish writer to follow in Claire Keegan. This is a lovely collection of seven melancholy stories, most of them set in rural Ireland. The main character in each story is haunted by tragedy--a lost love, a missed opportunity, a broken family, a dead child, a loveless marriage--and all but one (Margaret, in the final story, "Night of the Quicken Trees") seems stuck in that thin space between hope and despair, wanting to change the future but afraid to take that necessary step forward. A priest officiates at the marriage of the girl he loved (loves?) and for whom he began to question his vows. A man brings home a found dog in hopes of selling it--until his daughter assumes it is her birthday gift. A wild, outcast woman settles into a home she inherited from her cousin-lover-priest, haunted by a tragic affair that ended in crib death and wondering if she has enough time left for a second chance. A drunk remembers the girl he might have married. A gay man visits his mother and stepmother in Florida and leaves on his own terms. While the stories are all somewhat "blue," there is also enough humor to keep the melancholy from slipping over into the maudlin. And the writing is just exquisite. While the stories are decidedly Irish in nature, they are also universal.

Highly recommended for lovers of Ireland, lovers of short stories, and lovers of beautiful writing. A pitch perfect collection that will do it's magic on your emotions. ( )

This is a collection of stories set in Ireland. They are contemporary tales but set in rural settings so there's lots of traditional gender roles, repressed emotions, and outcomes that are rather depressing. Fortunately, there is some humor in this stories that otherwise can be dour. These stories are well-crafted but I can't say that they moved me much. ( )

What is it with the Irish and writing? Keegan is yet another excellent Irish storyteller, and I think she's a major talent in the making. Concerned with ordinary family life, these stories tend to be set in rural Ireland on farms, and Keegan's voice is distinctive, even timeless. The last story in the collection has a bit of the folk tale feel to it. I'm truly excited to see what she does next. ( )