Book summary

Maeve Brennan (1917-1993) was born in Ireland, but came to the US as a teenager when her family moved to Washington, DC. Gradually rising in the world of journalism, she became a fixture at The New Yorker, writing book reviews, "Talk of the Town" features (Brennan was the magazine's famous "long-winded lady"), and--eventually--short stories. Now considered a masterly fiction writer, Brennan during her lifetime was plagued by poverty, failure, and mental illness. This sympathetic biography traces Brennan's roots back to Ireland and ends with her sad death, but its main focus is on her incomparable stories.