Maggie O'Farrell's 10th novel, Land, is a lengthy and ambitious story set in the aftermath of the Irish famine. The book opens in 1865 on a rainswept Irish peninsula and takes readers to Dublin, Rome, Quebec, and Kerala as it spans two generations, with glimpses of two more. The opening line came to O'Farrell during a train journey from Belfast to Dublin, leading to a story partly based on her great-great-grandfather, who worked for the Ordnance Survey in Ireland after the Great Hunger.
A Story of Surveying and Survival
In bitter weather, Tomás and his 10-year-old son Liam map a peninsula—possibly Dunmore Head in County Kerry—using surveying poles and measuring chains. Tomás works for the English, who need his surveying skills and language abilities to translate Irish place names and determine land ownership. His job involves untangling local legends and obscure toponyms to create a usable map. A famine survivor scarred by trauma, Tomás tolerates this work as it was his escape from the workhouse.
On the promontory, Tomás discovers a forgotten place with a tangled woodland around an ancient well. After drinking its water, he transforms from terse to voluble, from harsh to loving. He raves, has visions, and can no longer work for the English. Liam must stop him from destroying his work and get him home to his wife Phina and daughters Enda and Rose. Phina is expecting a fourth child, Eugene, whose story closes the book. Interwoven is the myth of the magic well, with a talking fish, a wise dog, a gold ring, and the power to grant wishes—reminiscent of Celtic mythology.
Narrative Style and Challenges
Land opens with an epigraph defining “seanchaí” as a custodian of tradition and storyteller. O'Farrell adopts this role, which explains the fable-like elements amid realist passages, direct address to the reader, use of coincidence, uneven pacing, and shifting points of view—from humans to dogs, an unborn child, a house, the land, and an omniscient perspective. These elements suggest the book should be approached as traditional storytelling rather than a conventional novel.
However, this choice results in sparse dialogue, with speech often reported rather than rendered. This makes the book dense and reduces opportunities to reveal character through conversation. Many characters feel less rounded, making it challenging to follow their tragedies. The story unfolds episodically, lacking a strong sense of causality.
Film Adaptation Potential
O'Farrell co-wrote the screenplay adaptation of her novel Hamnet, which earned several award nominations. The rights to Land have been acquired by the same production company. Some scenes describe characters' movements from an external perspective, as in a script: “He fits his hat to his head … then leaves”; “Tomás nods once … then waves her off with a curt gesture.”
As a novel, Land feels uncomfortable in its own skin, neither fable nor history nor family saga, with an inconsistently inhabited voice. But with its narrator absent and characters brought to life by actors, it will likely make an epic and richly textured film.
Land by Maggie O'Farrell is published by Tinder (£25). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com.
