Mahony’s primary partner in his quest to find out what happened to his mother is the woman who lives in the boarding house where he takes up residence. When Mahony comes to Mulderrig, the dead know they will finally be recognized: “They only want to be seen.” The good people in the village are drawn to Mahony just as the dead are, and they all endeavor to help him. The village harbors some evil individuals bent on revenge but also some brave and loving people who are dedicated to justice. For the dead have second-hand stories to share with you, if you’d only let them get a foot in the door.” “The dead are drawn to the confused and the unwritten, the damaged and the fractured, to those with big cracks and gaps in their tales, which the dead just yearn to fill.

They are always close to someone like Mahony, the author writes: The dead characters are almost as real as those who are living, and just as delightful. It’s inhabitants include both the living and the dead, and Mahony sees them all. The crows picking over the flooded fields are dancing the fandango and the farmers that applaud them are their biggest fans.” “In the field a flyblown sheep is lullabied by gentle breezes, her rinsed wool lifting. Patrick himself admire Mulderrig’s trees whilst chasing troublesome snakes about the place? And didn’t he bless the forest as he lashed through the undergrowth?”Īfter a storm in Mulderrig, the author writes: Why would they when all the roads that lead to Mulderrig are downhill so that leaving is uphill all the way?” People are born to live and stay and die here. Here the trees are as old as the mountains and a clear river runs into the sea. “Here the colors are a little bit brighter and the sky is a little bit wider.

Mulderrig, the author writes, is a place like no other: The plot shifts between 1950, when Mahony was born, to 1976, when he returns to Mulderrig.

Himself by Jess Kidd