In this story by William Trevor, Irish villagers ridicule an elderly brother and sister for living in the past by clinging to their family’s long-held British allegiance. Almost forty years have passed since the Anglo-Irish War. The rest of the community, who are predominantly Republican, have moved on. That is until “The Troubles” of the late 1960s, when the other villagers’ hatred and mistrust of the British resurfaces. The once well-liked siblings find themselves ostracized, proving that the past is never far away. Themes: family loyalty and pride, isolation, tolerance, friendship, religious/political conflict, alienation, the interrelationship between past and present.
Original Text / PDF / Audio (3,373 words)