The McNulty family in the novels of Sebastian Barry have a definite claim to be one of the unluckiest in all fiction. After serving with the Brits in the first world war, the main character in The Where-abouts of Eneas McNulty is branded a traitor to Ireland, and spends the rest of his days in bleak and terrified exile. In The Secret Scripture, his sister-in-law Roseanne is locked up for life in a Sligo mental asylum for having an illegitimate baby (that’s taken from her). In The Temporary Gentleman, Eneas’s brother Jack is an ageing alcoholic reflecting on the failure of virtually everything he’s ever done.
On the plus side, mind you, the McNultys have generally responded to such relentless misfortune with a stoicism that borders on the miraculous — and, in most cases, while remaining unshakeably noble.
But now, judging from Days without End, it seems the stoicism and maybe even the bad luck were in their genes all along.
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