{"product_id":"book-ga2f","title":"The Strangers' House","description":"\u003cb\u003eA penetrating study and celebration of Northern Irish literature—\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003etelling the region’s story through the extraordinary novels and poetry produced by decades of conflict.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Northern Ireland is one hundred years old. Northern Ireland does not exist. Both of these statements are true. It just depends on who you ask. How do you write about a place like this? THE STRANGERS' HOUSE asks this question of the region’s greatest writers, living and dead. What have they made of Northern Ireland – and what has Northern Ireland made of them?\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Northern Ireland is roughly the same size as the State of Connecticut, yet has produced an extraordinary number of celebrated poets and novelists. \u003cb\u003eLouis MacNeice\u003c\/b\u003e, too clever to be happy, formed by his childhood on the shores of Belfast Lough. \u003cb\u003eC. S. Lewis,\u003c\/b\u003e who discovered Narnia in the rolling drumlins and black rock of County Down. \u003cb\u003eAnna Burns\u003c\/b\u003e, chronicler of North Belfast and winner of the Booker Prize. And \u003cb\u003eSeamus Heaney\u003c\/b\u003e, the man of wry precision, the poet with the gift of surprise.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As well as household names, Poots also examines writers who may be less familiar to an American readership. These include the dark and bawdy novels of Ian Cochrane, a celebrated raconteur obsessed with \u003ci\u003eColumbo\u003c\/i\u003e, and Forrest Reid, a man who saw Arcadia in the Irish countryside, and who was, perhaps, the North’s first queer author. Reading the work of these writers together produces a testament to over one hundred years of literary endeavor and human struggle. THE STRANGERS' HOUSE is the story of how men and women have written about a home divided, and used their work to move, in the words of Seamus Heaney, “like a double agent among the big concepts.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthors and works discussed…\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eC. S. Lewis\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eSurprised by Joy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSeamus Heaney\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eNorth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAnna Burns\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eMilkman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLouis MacNeice\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eAutumn Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eForrest Reid\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eBrian Westby\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDerek Mahon\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eA Disused Shed in Co. Wexford\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMichael Longley\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eKindertotenlieder\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMedbh McGuckian\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eDrawing Ballerinas\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePatrick Kavanagh\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eThe Green Fool\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIan Cochrane\u003c\/b\u003e – \u003ci\u003eF for Ferg\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Hachette Book Group","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49348623171888,"sku":"BDga2f","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/384892-ga2f-Square.jpg?v=1734228552","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-ga2f","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}