THE BUTCHER'S BLESSING

Narrators Heather O'Neill and John Keating put their natural Irish brogues to fine use as they share the narration of this cautionary tale. A mysterious order of Irish cattle butchers who travel from farm to farm offering their services find their ancient ways threatened during the 1996 outbreak of mad cow disease. The narrators give voice and emotion to a butcher's wife who battles loneliness and temptation, a former member of the order who is still drawn to the old ways, and, particularly, a butcher's 12-year-old daughter who comes to believe that she alone can set everything right. Coming-of-age, betrayal, and redemption--what more could you ask from Ruth Gilligan, the latest and youngest in a long line of uniquely Irish literary voices? B.P. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: MAY 2021]