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By THEODORA LEAVENS SCHMID

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 25, 2008

widower, asks Quirke to skip the postmortem.

The thought of his beautiful wife, Deirdre, being cut up is too much for Billy. Although Quirke agrees, his instincts lead him to go where he should not. Quirke simply cannot avoid trouble, for he has an inquisitive mind. The story places the reader directly in foggy Dublin, with its duality of church and pub.

Quirke is a newly reformed alcoholic who seems to be successful at putting his demons behind him. He has good reasons, at times, to drink. He has, shall we say, a complicated family life. His wife, Delia, has been dead more than 20 years. Although he cared for her, it was her sister, Sarah, he truly loved.

His daughter Phoebe recently learned that Quirke is not her uncle, as she always thought, but her father. Phoebe was raised by Sarah and her husband, Malachi, who she thought were her mother and father. Phoebe is brittle and hardened for a young woman, and Quirke is delicately trying to nurture a relationship with her. She wants no part of him and his guilt.

Quirke's loyalties are tested as he stumbles on to evidence that Deirdre was murdered. He is drawn into a world of sexual obsession, blackmail, hypocritical religious faith, drug addiction, adultery and murder.

Phoebe is right in the middle of his investigation, apparently involved in a tangential way. The oppressive mores of the times and of the church create dissonance with the gritty reality that Quirke uncovers. The reader will know Dublin and its environment well.

"The Silver Swan" is a beautifully evocative story of unpredictable human foibles and the examination of a life well-intentioned but flawed. Black, winner of The Man Booker Prize, is an author worthy of the highest praise.

Theodora Leavens Schmid is a counselor at Monroe Middle School in Tampa.

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