Fiction: Stories of Ireland
Brian Friel with the Golden Torc he received from the Aosdana in recognition of his work in 2006.
Julien Behal / PA / Alamy
In this new collection of 13 Friel stories lie the seeds of several of his plays.
These are men and women for whom pigeon-racing is endowed with commitment and purpose, illuminating, in parallel, the nuances of marriage and the homing instinct; fishermen of meagre means who hope for gold in a sunken sea vessel; a down-at-heel old showman plying a trade as a travelling magician; and a boy who goes to stay with his five maiden aunts after his teacher father has lost his job (the genesis for Friel’s acclaimed play Dancing at Lughnasa).
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