The Art of the Glimpse

  ‘'That night, I walked the streets of East Belfast again in my dreams. Waking, the dream seemed to linger far longer than a mere dream. These streets are ours. I was jittery all day, a restless, nauseous, over-caffeinated feeling. I could email her, I thought, through the website. I wouldn't bother with pleasantries or preliminaries. I'd just say, ‘There we were. Do you remember?''
The poignancy, richness and diversity of Irish Literature within a volume, beautifully selected by Sinead Gleeson. From the haunting to the satirical, the romantic, the tragic. Snippets of the woes and joys of the farmers' lives, the complexities of urban landscapes, the sorrows of the heart, the terrors of the mind, and the irrevocable wounds of the Troubles that shaped the soul of the Northern Irish. A collection to be cherished.
Do you recall the feeling of being alone in your room, reading while the soft light of the sun enters from the window on a late summer afternoon? The silence and the calm? This collection reminded me of those precious moments.
My favourite stories include:
The Quest by Leland Bardwell: A woman travels to England to meet the son she gave up for adoption 40 years ago.  Over and Done With by Claire-Louise Bennett: A woman who lives alone tries to cope with the demanding atmosphere of Christmas. Ann Lee's by Elizabeth Bowen: A mysterious visitor creates mischief in the shop of a formidable lady. Here We Are by Lucy Caldwell: A beautifully atmospheric coming-of-age story about love, death and summer holidays, set in East Belfast. The Yew Tree by Oein DeBhairduin: A folk tale of loss and grief, true to the haunting Irish nature. The Pram by Roddy Doyle: A terrifying ghost story that combines the finest features of the Irish legends and Slavic traditions. Brilliant! Virgin Soil by George Egerton: A daughter who had to put up with a violent husband, escapes the nightmare of her wedding and rebels against her naive, oppressive mother. A Love by Neil Jordan: A moving love affair, set in Dublin and Limerick. Antarctica by Claire Keegan: The only story by Keegan that I actually enjoyed. A sensual tale that turns into a nightmare. Hunger by Louise Kennedy: A hymn to Bobby Sands through the eyes of an adolescent girl that has found herself in the wolf's den. Walking the Dog by Brendan MacLaverty: A man finds himself threatened by both sides that claim to ‘'fight''  the absurd war of the Troubles. A Shiver of Hearts by Una Mannion: A statue of the Virgin Mary becomes the heart of a young girl's story. A Journey by Edna O'Brien: As with Keegan this is the only O'Brien story that managed to attract my attention, narrating a doomed love affair. Black Spot by Deidre Sullivan: If you are a teacher you cannot help but adore this tender and moving story.