The first impression I got from reading Anne Enright's 2007 Man Booker Prize winner, The Gathering, was the bittersweet feeling toward the parents who reproduced twelve offspring: Midge, Bea, Ernest, Stevie, Ita, Mossie, Liam, Veronica, Kitty, Alice and the twins, Ivor and Jem. It would be unsympathetic to blame Veronica, the narrator of the novel, for questioning her parents who "bred as naturally as they might shit". Every child, at least for a period of time, would have desired undivided attention from their parents either knowingly or unknowingly. Thinking about the competitions--not too many children would want to be in Veronica's shoes.

It was in such situation that made the death of Liam, Veronica's eleven months older brother and close ally, truly unbearable. Through recalling memories in their childhood, Veronica sought an explanation of her dearest brother's walking into the sea and getting drowned.

I did that once, seeking an explanation of a close friend's suicide. I tried to imagine why he decided to jump off the building and left everyone knowing him behind. I found myself reached an explanation, but like Veronica, we were not sure if our explanation was the truth or simply a delusion.

• The din within by AL Kennedy @ The Guardian (20070428)
• Intimate relations by Adam Mars-Jones @ The Observer (20070506)
• Liam's Wake by Liesl Schillinger @ New York Times (20070930)
• Irish eyes, American influence by Tim Rutten @ Los Angeles Time (20071003)