Book of the Month - By Kathleen Thorne

Cheating at Canasta

By William Trevor

Published by Penguin Viking

Price: €21.99

The short stories in Cheating at Canasta, set both in Ireland and Britain, range across a wide array of human emotions and predicaments. They come from the pen of a master short story writer and they create a truly convincing world. The story which gives the book its title is about a man called Mallory, who returns to Venice to spend a while there for no other reason than to fulfil his late wife's wish that 'You promise you'll go back for both of us'.

During the course of dinner one evening – he dines alone – he eavesdrops on a couple at a table near him. They are quarrelling. His aloneness, while remembering his devotion to his wife, provides a contrast to the unhappiness of the young couple.

The Dressmaker's Child is set in rural Ireland at a time of change. It is the story of the accidental killing of the daughter of the dressmaker by a local young man. Through the twists and turns of the story we catch glimpses of real human frailty. The overriding influence of religion is there, as are the consequences of incest. Perhaps though, it is through the dressmaker's manipulation of events that the story has its greatest impact.

In Men of Ireland, a down-and-out Donal Prunty returns from England to prey upon an old priest who had once tried to help him. The story is about the depths of depravity that a person can stoop to, but it is also about how 'the betrayal of a church and the shaming of Ireland's priesthood' impacts on a good priest.

At Olivehill explores an up-to-date rural Irish problem through as experienced by one family. Farming, as it was known and practised for generations, has changed. The sons of a well-to-do family are aware that there is little hope of prosperity for them in following the traditions of their parents. They decide on a change of land use – they will build a golf course. The practicality of the idea is not appreciated by their mother. The effect on her is predictable, but sad.

A Perfect Relationship is set in England, but the story is universal. A young woman sets up home with a man her parents do not approve of. She becomes emotionally muddled and ends up hurting herself and her partner. The subtlety in her changing emotional states is mirrored in the subtlety of Trevor's narration.

A very modern problem confronts us in The Children. A widowed parent decides to marry a divorcee. So embroiled are they in the management of their own affairs that they fail to realise how the daughter of one of them is being affected. The consequent dilemma is such that difficult choices have to be considered, and decisions made. It is not a comfortable story, but is one that will strike a chord with many people.

In Old Flame, Zoë lives for 39 years with the knowledge of her husband's affair with another woman, Audrey. Throughout that time Zoë spies on the affair by steaming open Audrey's letters and resealing them with Pritt adhesive.

While being fully aware of what's going on, she retains the love and respect of her husband. Eventually, 'the old flame bores him, with her scent and her cigarettes and her cellophane butterflies'. Once again in this story, Trevor conveys with great subtlety the roots of Zoë's strength in the face of her husband's infidelity.

Whether it is in England or Ireland, Trevor has the ability to hold a mirror up to reflect back to us the nature of our modern society. His strength lies in his grasp of the universality and timelessness of human nature. Whether it is the naïve rawness of Jasmin's youth and the predatory instincts of the man she meets in An Afternoon or the sad despair of Mollie in At Olivehill, Trevor creates a world that is authentic and deeply rooted in the vagaries of the human heart.

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