Valley of the Squinting Windows

Valley of the Squinting Windows is a novel by Brinsley MacNamara, set in the fictional village of "Garradrimna", County Westmeath, Ireland. While McNamara insists that Garradrimna could represent any village in Ireland, geographical landmarks mentioned in the book indicate that Garradrimna coincides with the real-world town of Delvin. The novel itself never refers to Delvin by name. The novel would have been unremarkable except for the tale of Ir... more

Valley of the Squinting Windows is a novel by Brinsley MacNamara, set in the fictional village of "Garradrimna", County Westmeath, Ireland. While McNamara insists that Garradrimna could represent any village in Ireland, geographical landmarks mentioned in the book indicate that Garradrimna coincides with the real-world town of Delvin. The novel itself never refers to Delvin by name. The novel would have been unremarkable except for the tale of Irish life that it told at the time of its publication in 1918, the immediate scandal, and the ensuing ramifications. The novel centred on rural life and the power of gossip, and public perception which people attempted to present of the family and individual and of an inward-looking society, similar to the Keeping up with the Joneses theme. Such was the stir created by the book that the author's father, a schoolmaster, was boycotted and eventually had to leave the area and emigrate; the author himself never returned to the area. The novel also... less