STRANGER AT KILLKNOCK

by Leonard Wibberley ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

Another story (The Jovce, 1960) of the Irish fisherfolk of the Atlantic reveals the isolation and loneliness of the village of Killknock, the superstitions and idolatry of its inhabitants and the changes a stranger brings to them. Dominated by the mountain Knockmor and its legendary association with a pagan sea god, Killknock's people are all Catholic, except, the medical officer, Dr. McEwan, but their young, modern, educated priest, is at odds with their primitive practices. The stranger who comes to Killknock first bestows hope on a barren woman, cures a man's deafness, saves the cobbler's little girl with whom he shares his secret. His presence frightens Tom Joyce, a man of the sea who had ridden out the White Storm, and it comforts the dying cobbler. When the priest determines to move Knockmer's venerated stone, Joyce is killed and his fetishism revealed while the cobbler's young daughter reveals to the bishop and the priest the supernal knowledge of the stranger and the truth of his identity. A second coming in simple, Celtic this has its appeal in the portrait of the village and the interrelationship of its characters.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1961

Categories: FICTION