Alice McDermott Release Date: 01 Nov 2000 Format: Paperback Pages: 280 ISBN: 9780747545392 ISBN-10: 0747545391
The late Billy Lynch's family and friends gather in a bar in the Bronx to remember better times. His widow, Maeve, is there, of course, and everyone admires the way she is holding up, just as they always admired the way she cared for Billy after the alcohol had ruined him. But one cannot think of Billy without saying at some point, 'There was that girl. The Irish girl.' And one cannot help but think that the real story of his life lay there.
For on Long Island one summer years ago, Billy fell in love with a beautiful Irish girl working for a wealthy Park Avenue family. Billy wanted to marry Eva, even gave her a ring. But then she went back to Ireland. And then Billy's cousin Dennis had to break the terrible news: Eva had died of pneumonia. Billy never got over it. Anybody who knew him would tell you so. Billy began courting Maeve not long after, but for the rest of their lives, he, she and Dennis shared a twisted, absorbing grief.
