History of the Rain by Niall Williams is the first book of his I’ve read. An astonishing comment on a good book which was copyrighted in 2014. How did I miss this one?

I was writing my own, family matters, farming, and he is an Irish writer. All acceptable excuses. Didn’t know about him until I read an article on books to read through Ireland. Now that I’ve found him, I’m putting his books on my to read pile, which is already substantial.

This book is filled with literary references, book recommendations, and literary allusions. And heartaches.

The Swain family is one of those families which seems to have a rain cloud overhead always. Virgil Swain tries to escape this by going to sea, returns to the Shannon River area, starts a family determined to be different. That rain clouds open and rains for days. Virgil’s daughter Ruth sets the task of writing the history of the rain, and end it.

Hope you enjoy this well written book.