THE DEADWOOD ENCORE

A dual narrative, intergenerational story of family and identity; of inheritance and birthright; ambiguous loss and what it means to truly believe. It’s brilliantly inventive and funny; think Lisa McInerney meets Patrick deWitt, with shades of Roddy Doyle.  

The novel is narrated in turns by Frank Whelan, a young builder caught in a dead-end job, and his dearly departed “Da” who was a celebrated Healer in County Carlow, Ireland.  Frank should have inherited his father’s gifts by now; he is after all, the seventh son of a seventh son.  While Frank’s destiny proves elusive, his world is upended when his twin brother Bernie makes a life-altering decision which breaks open the family unit and casts a shadow on how Frank perceives his place in the world.  His father’s spirit and voice return in a miraculous way to guide him on a physical and emotional journey, and, potentially, uncover the truth about his family’s history along the way.    

At times picaresque and surreal, THE DEADWOOD ENCORE is also a vivid, naturalistic portrait of a close knit, working class family, of small-town Irish life. Frank’s “Mater” works shifts at the local supermarket and brings home out of date biscuits for her sons. His cousin Lena believes SHE is in fact the one who should inherit the gift, and casts aspersions on Da’s infidelities. His best friend, the extraordinarily charismatic Hopper, is his wingman in a town where people worry about work as a job, not a career. It is a country of superstition, tradition and faith, (they celebrate “Wolf Night” once a year, based on the mythology of driving the last wolves out of Ireland, and where Hopper will surely win the scallion eating contest again). Where everyone knows your business when you go to the pub on a Friday night.

Murray’s technical ability is prodigious; how she manages to capture the voice of a young man insecure about his lack of belonging, and faced with a life going nowhere, cheek by jowl with that of a dead man cursed with a gift of saving lives but is now unfettered by guilt or regret, and finally free, is truly sui generis.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Kathleen Murray was born in Carlow and educated at Trinity College, Dublin. She was first published in The Stinging Fly and since then has published work in the Moth, Dublin Review, Prairie Schooner and various anthologies. In 2007 she was the first Irish winner of the Fish Short story prize. Her story, Storm Glass, was a finalist for the 2011 Davy Byrne Short story Award.