The Wren, The Wren, by Anne Enright

An Irish poet's legacy is generational trauma for daughter and granddaughter alike.

Nell is a twenty-something freelance writer, knocking out dodgy travel pieces for online publications. She's in a sort-of relationship with Felim, a strapping lad of farming stock. Things are less than ideal, as Felim is borderline abusive. The sex is often rough and unsatisfying, but Nell is a bit of a masochist, prone to self-harm, and employs a wry sense of humour to try and rationalise her experiences. She has moved away from home, and her mother Carmel, to try and begin living an independent life, and hopefully forge a more independent identity.

The two women, mother and daughter, have a complicated relationship, full of love, but also frustration and exasperation. Carmel is a no-nonsense woman, with a realistic yet also ironic outlook. She raised Nell without a father, conceiving her daughter randomly, seeing single motherhood as less complicated than a traditional nuclear family. Carmel's attitude to men is perhaps coloured by her father, Phil McDanagh, a famous Irish poet (as far as poet's can be famous)

Phil McDanagh is a mildly comic figure, the proverbial Irish poet. Neither daughter nor granddaughter take him too seriously, although he is a major presence in their lives, despite the fact that he has passed away. The poetic Phil, in touch with the beauty of language and expression, dumped his wife Terry when she was suffering with cancer and quickly took up with other women. Old television interviews of Phil are available online, which are a focus of Nell and Carmel's attention, as they try to figure out what his relationship with them meant, and how it continues to shape them.

Anne Enright has a great skill for describing life as it really is, with a focus on motherhood and its complex, often divided emotions. Nell and Carmel are undoubtedly close, and would do anything for each other, but there are fights and resentments. Enright also writes about the body in an almost Chaucerian way, with emphasis on menstrual blood and sperm, stark realities of life's cycle. All these elements put together – the natural insistence of the body, the challenges of mother-daughter relationships, a steady stream of bad or boring sex, a gnome-like poet father – create an emotionally messy yet compelling page-turner of a novel. Enright weaves much humour through her well observed prose, creating well rounded characters that readers will feel close to.

A skilful portrait of intergenerational relationships, executed with wit and understanding.

The Wren, The Wren, by Anne Enright. Published by Jonathan Cape. $32.99

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