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The Gathering by Anne Enright
Published by Jonathan Cape in 2007

The nine surviving children of the Hegarty clan gather in Dublin for the wake of their wayward brother Liam. It wasn't the drink that killed him - although that certainly helped - it was what happened to him as a boy in his grandmother's house, in the winter of 1968. His sister, Veronica was there then, as she is now: keeping the dead man company, just for another little while. The "Gathering" is a family epic, condensed and clarified through the remarkable lens of Anne Enright's unblinking eye. It is also a sexual history: tracing the line of hurt and redemption through three generations - starting with the grandmother, Ada Merriman - showing how memories warp and family secrets fester. This is a novel about love and disappointment, about thwarted lust and limitless desire, and how our fate is written in the body, not in the stars.

`It is clearly the product of a remarkable intelligence, combined with a gift for observation and deduction' The Guardian

`A welcome return, for this writer, to novel form...fresh, sophisticated take on the ever-popular dysfunctional family saga' The Irish Times

`Anne Enright has all she needs in terms of imagination and technique and she's a tremendous phrase maker' The Observer

Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works.

The Gathering won the 2007 Man Booker Prize.
Anne Enright is the fourth Irish person to win the prize, joining compatriots Iris Murdoch, Roddy Doyle and John Banville who won the prize in 1978, 1993 and 2005 respectfully.