Book Review - The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry
The storytelling style took some getting used to, but I enjoyed this tale of lovers on the run.
While I have read a fair few Westerns now, I've not read one that explores the lives of immigrants to the US in such vivid and droll detail as The Heart in Winter. It is largely told from the perspective of Tom Rourke, an Irish lad keen to abandon his roots through as many substances as he can ingest. His dialogue is sharp in its comedy though that tends to bleed into the narration too, which confused my reading for the first twenty or so pages.
However, once I had got into the rhythm of the conversational grammar and poetic implications, I enjoyed following young Tom as he meets the cynical but feisty Polly Gillespie and steals her away from a marriage of convenience to a dull mine captain who self-flagellates in the name of religion. However, when Long Anthony Harrington learns of his new bride fleeing with another man, he turns his violent inclinations onto them. Mind you, Harrington doesn't pursue the young couple himself, instead he sets the local sheriff and some Cornish gunmen to do the dirty work.
On their journey to California, Tom and Polly meet a host of friendly but odd strangers who offer more acceptance than their own neighbours in Butte, Montana ever did. Then again, it isn't long before reality catches up with them and this romance turns full Western.
The first couple of chapters may have proven a challenge to me but I'm glad I persevered. The Heart in Winter is a novel that manages to be both darkly humorous and emotionally resonant at the same time. I soon came to root for the star-crossed lovers, even if they didn't exactly ride off into the sunset as hoped. I recommend The Heart in Winter to readers of Barry's previous work and anyone who enjoys Irish wit and the Old West.