Amongst Women

Amongst Women by John McGahern is a contemporary Irish novel published in 1990. This novel explores themes of The Individual in a Changing World, The Individual Versus the Collective, and The Importance of Women. Amongst Women is also specific to Irish history and culture, as it portrays a rapidly modernizing Ireland that threatens the protagonist Moran’s sense of self.

Considered McGahern’s greatest work, Amongst Women is the fifth of his six published novels. It was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1990 and won the Irish Times Aer Lingus Literary Award in 1991. Amongst Women was adapted into a television series for the BBC and RTÉ in 1998. This adaptation was nominated for a BAFTA and won Best Television Drama at the Irish Film and Television Awards.

This guide refers to the 1990 Penguin Books edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide include depictions of family conflict, physical fighting, and generational trauma.

Plot Summary

Michael Moran is a widower and a veteran of the Irish War of Independence. Bitter about the war and how he’s been forgotten by a rapidly changing Ireland, Moran devotes himself to his farm and his five children.