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This book is a collection of literary criticism. Collects the manuscript of Colm Tóibín's lecture at Emory University, which was published in the London Review of Books. Tóibín offers an up-close and illuminating interpretative study of Irish culture, history, and literature through the lives and works of three men-William Wilde, John Butler Yeats, and John Stanislaus Joyce-and their intricate and far-reaching relationships with their complex sons. Through the stories of these three fathers and sons, Tóibín narrates the Irish resistance to British cultural hegemony, the birth of modern Irish cultural identity, and the outstanding contributions made by these complex and outstanding authors to the literary world.

In Enniscorthy, a small town in southeastern Ireland, housewife Nora Webster was widowed in middle age and had to raise four children by herself and was strapped for money. Nora is immersed in the grief of losing her loved one. She looks forward to any opportunity to escape from her predicament and troubles, but is also afraid that she will return to the monotonous and depressing work life she had before marriage. On the other hand, small town residents live in close proximity and everyone seems to know each other's secrets. The sensitive Nora became egotistical, stubborn, and sometimes impatient. She wanted to defend her family's privacy, but she also ignored the sadness and changes of her two young sons after losing their father. Gradually, with the power of singing talent and friendship, Nora saw a glimmer of hope for a new life.