The Banyan Tree — Christopher Nolan

Covering the eighty-plus years of the life of Minnie O'Brien, The Banyan Tree is a rich saga of rural Ireland in the twentieth century. In prose as lushly layered as the land it describes, Nolan lovingly details the triumphs and tragedies of this spirited woman, who struggles to keep body and soul, as well as her modest hopes, alive. While her three grown children have long since moved away, she is determined to keep her family's farm from the tightening grip of her unscrupulous neighbor, in the hope that one day her youngest will return to claim what is rightfully his. Weaving from the gentle world of Minnie's youth to the harder realities of the present, this sage and soulful story pays homage to a feisty individual spirit as well as a rich collective past.