Irish Language Fiction: Anna Heussaff's Bás Tobann and Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin's Aistriú are novels in different genres that illustrate the range of good fiction being published in Irish currently.
Heussaff has written a traditional "who-done-it?" - traditional by the standards of English-language fiction, though not by Irish- language. It's a genre which has millions of fans throughout the world, though one which still engenders a certain amount of disdain in some highbrow reviewers. Be that as it may, Bás Tobann offers something new and enjoyable.
While better known for her work as a television and radio producer, Heussaff has found her range as a writer in this, her first novel. Bás Tobann is a comfortable read; people, places and events unfold in a style which is unfussy but well-crafted. Heussaff's lines will not send you diving to the dictionary but remind you how an able writer can make everyday life lucid with everyday language.
The characterisation of the city family - mother Aoife, father Pat, and their two children, Sal and Rónán - who move to the country is convincing. The challenge they face in settling down is well-told without being laboured and the stresses that Aoife and Pat experience within their marriage as they try to adjust, adds to the realism.
The detective element of their story begins in the mundane but is skilfully teased out. An old news clipping about the death of a young woman and local teacher catches Aoife's attention. The circumstances of the death arouse her curiosity and we are soon on a well-worn trail which a thousand amateur sleuths have walked before, but Heussaff provides enough genuine suspense to keep the pages turning.
Ní Shúilleabháin's, Aistriú, by contrast, is fiction based on real events but none the less enjoyable for that. Éamon de Valera's government offered a number of Gaeltacht families the opportunity to transfer from their smallholdings to the green, green fields of Co Meath in the late 1930s. Ní Shúilleabháin looks at the social and cultural upheaval that occurred as a result through the eyes of a young woman, Ceaite.
Her family move from Kerry and Ní Shúilleabháin shows how the transfer sundered long-standing bonds and relationships. The government's Promised Land is for the men and the hidden support network between women and the social interaction which provided an antidote to the drudgery of their daily lives is destroyed by the move. Worse, the people of Co Meath have no great love for the blow-ins and their strange language. De Valera's ideal of building a Gaelic Garden of Eden is challenged by hard-nosed people who want land for themselves. (That said, it should be noted that Dev's Meath Gaeltacht still survives!)
Aistriú is a work of great compassion and poignancy and Ní Shúilleabháin tells the story fluently. Her use of dialogue is particularly impressive; giving the reader the immediate sense of what is said but, magically, also conveying a second meaning behind the spoken one. It is the sound of speech and the whisper of a sigh which adds so much to a wonderful novel.
Pól Ó Muirí is an Irish Times journalist
Bás Tobann, By Anna Heussaff, Cois Life, 236pp. €15
Aistriú, By Siobhán Ní Shúilleabháin, Cló Iar-Chonnachta, 140pp. €10