Country

Hughes’s clever conceit in this dark take on political violence—the Irish author’s American debut—is to transport The Iliad from ancient Troy to Northern Ireland in the mid-’90s, during a cease-fire between the IRA and the British. The year is 1996, and Nellie is married to an IRA soldier while simultaneously being an informer for the British. When she fears exposure, she is spirited out of the country, thus paving the way for an SAS roll-up of her husband’s unit. To combat the SAS, Pig, the local IRA head, calls for the support of Achill, the most feared member of his unit. But Achill has a personal grudge against Pig and turns him down. In his stead, Achill’s friend, Pat, goes one-on-one with an SAS officer, Capt. Henry Morrow, even as the powers that be in London, Belfast, and Dublin use the cease-fire to their own, opposing cynical ends. The tragedy that ensues sheds light on what these past and present conflicts have in common. The original gang from The Iliad is represented—Helen, Agamemnon, Achilles, Patroclus, Menelaus, Hector—and it is the author’s language that keeps the story fresh. There is rough poetry in both the self-serving speechifying of the leaders and the violent threats of the rank-and-file. This is a canny update of one of the world’s oldest stories. (Oct.)