The Wind Beyond the Wall

The forty poems in this first book by an Irish writer explore a variety of traditional and contemporary themes that combine to create the modern Irish consciousness. Beginning with poems that look back forty years or more on a childhood spent in the fabled country of Sligo, the book moves effortlessly to present-day issues of raising a family and making sense of the political turmoil unique to the country. Throughout the collection, McBreen also grapples with the contemporary Irish woman’s fight to assert her independence, asserting her own generous autonomy in the process. McBreen’s readers will quickly recognize the foundations of one of the world’s great oral traditions behind these evocative lyrics, and they will come away knowing much more about everyday Irish life than they did before.