The Gathering

The Gathering by Anne Enright is a novel about family history, grief, and the ways we learn to live with our pasts. Published in 2007, The Gathering was awarded the prestigious Man Booker Prize. The Gathering is Anne Enright’s fourth novel. Enright is the author of seven novels and is a major figure in contemporary Irish literature.

This guide is based on the following 2007 Black Cat edition of The Gathering.

Content Warning: This guide summarizes and analyzes the source text’s graphic depiction of the sexual abuse of children, grief, addiction, and death by suicide.

Plot Summary

Veronica Hegarty is 39 years old, married, with two young children when her beloved brother Liam dies by suicide. Veronica takes on the responsibility of traveling from her home in Ireland to England, where she identifies and claims Liam’s body. Veronica is grief-stricken and disturbed by her brother’s death. As a way of subconsciously coping with Liam’s death, Veronica turns to her family’s past in order to make sense of the present.

Veronica traces the source of Liam’s pain all the way to their maternal grandmother, Ada. Veronica fictionalizes some of Ada’s past, as she can’t be certain exactly why Ada married Charlie, and not a man named Lambert “Lamb” Nugent, who was in love with her. When Veronica discovers old family record books that prove that Nugent owned Ada and Charlie’s house, Veronica figures out that Nugent was overly involved and controlling in Ada’s life because he resented her for marrying someone else. Nugent is an important figure in the Hegarty family’s story. He was always around at Ada’s house, a seemingly friendly presence. But when Veronica, Liam, and their sister Kitty were sent to live with Ada as children, Veronica discovered Nugent sexually abusing Liam. Veronica didn’t speak about it with Liam or tell anyone else. This dark family secret haunted Veronica but was repressed until she started mining the past for ways of explaining Liam’s self-destructive path.

Meanwhile, Veronica helps prepare for Liam’s wake and funeral. She and her remaining siblings regather for the first time in years at Veronica’s mother’s house. Though the Hegarty siblings get along, they are only superficially close. They each have their own version of childhood resentment developed through their mother’s bearing 12 children and not having enough time to pay each child their due attention.

Veronica is also struggling in her marriage to Tom. She suspects him of infidelity and questions their love for one another. Veronica is utterly devoted to her two daughters, but she starts to worry that her nicely constructed home life is a farce. These feelings are exacerbated by her grief. As she processes Liam’s death, Veronica begins acting erratically. She stays up all night to avoid sleeping with her husband, and often drives around Dublin for the entire night just to have time alone to think about Liam and their shared history.

Veronica is also troubled by the physical presence of others—she becomes hyper-aware of other people’s bodies. When Veronica visits St. Ita’s, the site of a former psychiatric hospital where her uncle was kept, she discovers one mass grave for all the former patients. Veronica is confronted by the dehumanization of the dead, a societal issue that she compares to her own search for truth and justice for Liam.

On an impulse, Veronica flies to England to be alone. She sleeps, cries, and thinks of her beloved daughters. Ultimately, she decides that, despite her grief and guilt over Liam’s death, she wouldn’t want her life to be any different. Veronica learns to appreciate being alive and ends the novel by returning to her life, albeit with a newfound perspective. She decides to tell her siblings about Liam’s molestation, and by beginning the dialogue about their past, Veronica hopes to honor Liam’s death and heal old wounds.