The Summerhouse

Val Mulkerns is a noted Irish writer and member of Aosdána (Irish National Association of Artists). Her first novel, 'A Time Outworn', was released to critical acclaim in Ireland in 1952. She later worked as a journalist and columnist and is often heard on the radio. She is the author of five novels, three collections of short stories, two children's books and many published essays and critical writings. A third edition of her novel 'The Summerhouse' was published in 2013, and a new collection of Val's short fiction, 'Memory and Desire,' will be published in Spring 2016. She lives in Dublin, Ireland.

This is the Third Edition of Val Mulkerns' critically acclaimed novel, originally published in 1984 by the historical British publishing house, John Murray.Every summer members of the O'Donoghue family return to the Irish garrison town of Ferrycarrig to the house where they all grew up.It seems none of the family has quite escaped the meshes of their childhood. In that house academic excellence has always been taken for granted and there is no quarter for those who failed. Eleanor, the cleverest daughter, retains her status but despises her husband Con. Their daughter, Julia, retreats from parental rejection into a private world of her own.Ruth, married to Martin, a favourite grandson, wonders why family members want to spend each summer at Ferrycarrig when past summers linger around the place like ghosts.This brilliant portrait of a family is described by five of its members, each interlocked in a dependence that seems to transcend time. All those summers and four generations give a splendid evocation of family life.