Book review: A behemoth of the Irish canon

Spanning Mary Lavin’s long career, this book gathers 16 stories that show her at different stages of life, yet always alert to the same quiet tensions

Mary Lavin in 1984: 'An Arrow in Flight' is both an excellent introduction and a reminder of her authority over the short story form. File picture: Peter Thursfield/ The Irish Times 

• An Arrow in Flight
• Mary Lavin
• Penguin Ireland, €19.99

Colm Tóibín curates a portrait of a writer in full command of her art in An Arrow in Flight, a new short story collection by Mary Lavin, published by Penguin this month. 

Spanning Lavin’s long career, the book gathers 16 stories that show her at different stages of life, yet always alert to the same quiet tensions. 

For this behemoth of the Irish literary canon, Lavin’s work is attuned to moments where ordinary lives tilt, where small decisions carry lasting weight, and where truth arrives without announcement.

Tóibín opens the collection with Trastevere, a story set between Manhattan and Rome, told through the perspective of a confident, worldly protagonist. 

By the time this story was written, Lavin was a regular contributor to The New Yorker, and the choice immediately positions her as an international writer rather than one confined to parochial happenings.

The collection then moves to In the Middle of the Fields, one of Lavin’s best-known stories and a particular favourite of Tóibín’s.

It follows a late-night encounter between Vera, a widow, and an agricultural contractor who calls to her home on business. The tension is quiet but unmistakable. 

Story feels strikingly relevant today

Vera’s house, isolated in the landscape, becomes both refuge and risk. Themes of vulnerability, power, and social expectation run through the story, which feels strikingly relevant today. 

Its stage adaptation on the banks of the Boyne in 2021 underlined how well it continues to speak to contemporary audiences.

Across the collection, Tóibín draws from every stage of Lavin’s career, showing her range while remaining faithful to what he describes as her sense of mystery and wisdom. 

From domestic tragedies to later, more psychologically complex stories, Lavin consistently focuses on moments where ordinary life shifts or fractures.

From her debut collection Tales from Bective Bridge, Sarah stands out. 

The story follows an unmarried mother living with her illegitimate sons and brothers who becomes pregnant again, who is thrown out is, and later found dead in a ditch alongside her baby.

Its inclusion is a reminder that Lavin’s reputation as a quiet observer can obscure how uncompromising her work often was.

The Haymaking feels especially timely in an era of renewed interest in nature writing and environmental awareness. 

A farmer’s new wife fails to grasp how dependent haymaking is on precise weather conditions, her instinctive reverence for nature clashing with the practical knowledge earned through labour. 

This attention to landscape as an active force also appears in At Sallygap.

The Yellow Beret is her closest approach to a detective story, but even here the focus is on motive and moral consequence rather than plot mechanics.

The publication of An Arrow in Flight comes amid renewed interest in Lavin’s work. 

Recent scholarship, including Dr Gráinne Hurley’s study of Lavin’s correspondence with her New Yorker editor Rachel MacKenzie, has brought fresh attention to her career.

In 2024, Mary Lavin became the first woman to have a Dublin city square named in her honour. 

At the unveiling, Tóibín spoke of visiting Lavin’s Meath home and of her generosity to a young writer. It feels appropriate that he now champions her work for a new era.

An Arrow in Flight is both an excellent introduction and a reminder of Lavin’s authority over the short story form. 

Her work resists sentimentality and spectacle, favouring instead a clear-eyed attention to how people behave when no one is watching.

In an age where attention is constantly pulled in competing directions, the short story feels like a particularly apt form, and Lavin remains one of its surest practitioners.

Mary Lavin’s stories have waited patiently, and the moment has finally caught up with Mary Lavin.

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