This is Happiness by Niall Williams. "The Irishest of Irish fiction, Williams tells the tale of Noel, a Dublin teenager, who goes to live for a while with his grandparents in their 200-year-old house in Faha, a small community in County Clare. Noel has experienced a traumatic event, which he needs to process, and Faha seems the right place to do so - a placid village, relatively untouched by the hands of time. Of course, there are ripples below the surface of this placid community, and Williams treats it all with great tenderness and Irish humor." "Okay, so it's not a 'beach read' in the 'propulsive, racing heart, skim the language to find out what happens' sense, but this author's beautiful, lyrical prose and wonderful story captured my heart, and while I didn't read it on a beach, I certainly could have."
