House of Splendid Isolation

"One of the most celebrated writers in the English language" presents a novel of two people caught up during Ireland's Troubles (NPR's Weekend Edition).

The heartbreaking dilemmas and the noble and bloody history of Ireland come vividly to life in bestselling and multi-award-winning author Edna O'Brien's House of Splendid Isolation—the tale of Josie, a widow living in a solitary house outside an Irish village, whose home becomes the hideout of an IRA terrorist.

"Here is a study of the nature of war: the sorry operations of love and hate that unite husband and wife, the police and protester, the civilian and the IRA. . . . Ms. O'Brien has gone behind the newspaper headlines of bombings, atrocities and midnight murders and finds there only good intentions, blind devotion, stalemate and ruin. All of it unnecessary, all of it sadly human. This is a brave book." —The New York Times Book Review