The Wren, the Wren

Published in 2023, The Wren, The Wren is a literary novel by Irish writer Anne Enright. In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Enright began writing her eighth novel with the character of Carmel, whose tough-mindedness clashes with the beauty of the natural world around her. Enright immersed herself in lyrical poetry to complement her interest in nature and only realized the central tension of the novel when she conceptualized the character of Nell, whose romantic perspective of the world contradicts Carmel’s. In 2024, The Wren, The Wren won the Writers’ Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

The Wren, The Wren tells the parallel stories of Carmel McDaragh and her daughter, Nell, who both live in the shadow of Carmel’s father, the lauded Irish poet Phil McDaragh. Carmel spends her life trying to influence her daughter’s sense of practicality. Carmel’s stern nature grew out of Phil’s decision to abandon their family when Carmel was still young. Nell, on the other hand, reckons with her experiences of human connection, which strongly resonate with the poetry of the grandfather, whom she never had the chance to know. Nell encounters a man named Felim, with whom she believes she has fallen in love despite his secretive and, at times, abusive behavior. This ultimately pushes her to assess her relationship with men, her mother, and the vastness of a world that resists definition. The novel explores mother-daughter relationships, the dynamics of language and reality, and public and private personalities.

This study guide refers to the first American edition of the novel, published by W. W. Norton & Company in 2023.

Content Warning: The source material depicts physical and emotional abuse against children and self-harm. It also references death by suicide and suicidal ideation, sexual assault, animal violence, and the use of biased language against people with intellectual disabilities.

Plot Summary

The novel uses a braided structure, alternating between Nell and Carmel’s storylines. The novel breaks this pattern in Chapter 5 to follow the perspective of Phil McDaragh, Carmel’s father.

Nell McDaragh is a fresh graduate from Trinity College Dublin who fears the loss of small things in nature, such as certain species of birds. She is unable to pinpoint the source of her anxiety, though she tries to remedy it by watching online videos of nature. Nell meets a man named Felim and falls intensely in love with him. She chooses not to tell her mother, Carmel, about her new relationship because Carmel tends to judge others for whatever faults they have. Nell becomes suspicious that Felim is seeing someone else, however, when he turns secretive and defensive about his life. Felim takes her to his hometown and introduces her to his family to explain his behavior, but then he antagonizes her for being so nosy. Nell becomes gradually more confused by Felim’s behavior, even as she continues to yearn for his company and the aggression he displays during sex. Nell fears that she may be pregnant with Felim’s child. Soon after she confirms that she isn’t pregnant, Felim comes to break up with her. Nell decides to leave Ireland and asks Carmel for travel money.

Carmel’s story begins in flashback, recalling the period of her life when her father, the famous poet Phil McDaragh, abruptly leaves their family. Without any direct explanation for his departure, Carmel later understands that Phil had ended his relationship with her mother, Terry, after Terry was diagnosed with breast cancer. Phil briefly returns to ransack the house in search of a wristwatch. Carmel reckons with Phil’s behavior and the state of their family, while her older sister, Imelda, takes on the responsibility of taking care of their mother through her recovery period. Phil frequently sends postcards to Carmel, expressing his adoration for her. Just before Carmel finishes her studies, Phil dies in the United States. He is honored at his funeral, which is attended by many, including the McDaragh family and Phil’s second wife, an American woman named Connie. Carmel goes to work as an English teacher in Florence, Italy, where she engages in a brief period of romantic affairs. Soon after she returns to Ireland, Terry dies of cancer. A bulk of her inheritance goes to Imelda. Carmel, on the other hand, is expected to use her share of the inheritance toward paying off Terry’s outstanding debts. This provokes her to attack Imelda, causing them to become estranged. Carmel starts her own language school and engages in a casual sexual relationship with one of her students, Edgardo. Because she softly aspires to be a mother without a long-term partner, she becomes pregnant and gives birth to Nell, who turns out to be a stubborn child.

When Nell is nine years old, Carmel meets a man named Ronan Bresnihan, whom she begins dating. Carmel is drawn to Ronan’s gentle nature but bristles at the unlikely competition she finds in Nell, who naturally elicits Ronan’s attention. Carmel and Ronan date for several months, during which she feels a sense of stagnancy. Ronan is obsessed with Phil’s poetry. His discussions of the poet’s cultural legacy evoke Carmel’s memories of the abusive childhood she endured when Phil was still present in her life. Carmel becomes annoyed by Ronan. This coincides with Ronan’s increased reliance on Carmel, occasioned by a series of medical procedures he undergoes to remove polyps from his colon. Carmel quietly ends their relationship and soon becomes frustrated. She takes this frustration out on Nell one day when she suspects that Nell is responsible for a malfunctioning lightbulb in their kitchen. Carmel hits Nell, and her actions shock her. Neither speaks of the incident again.

Phil’s chapter recounts his childhood on a farm in rural Ireland, initially sharing a small cottage with his parents and six siblings. As a teen, Phil harbors a crush on a local girl named Hanorah Casey. He is also eyed for clerical life when his parish priest, Father Madden, invites him to read books on various subjects at the parish house. Phil’s family soon moves into the nearby town, which interrupts the pace of his life and pushes him to spend more time in nature. He writes his first love poems for Hanorah and attracts her attention when he displays his love for literature in public. One day, Phil joins his father on a hunting party to kill a large badger famously referred to as Old Brock. The hunting party kills a badger cub, during which Phil looks into its eyes and feels a moment of complete understanding. Phil goes on a walk with Hanorah, an act for which Hanorah’s father punishes her by shaving her head. Phil joins the schoolchildren in mocking her. The following year, he abandons the call to priesthood and uses his knowledge to foster a vocation for poetry. He never forgets the look he shared with the badger cub.

In the present, Nell travels through Europe, meeting old friends from university and engaging in brief sexual encounters. Felim continues to plague her thoughts. On one occasion, she sends him a picture of herself with another man, which angers her sexual partner. In Utrecht, Nell engages her friend Malachy in a discussion about the differences between love and sex. Nell has a panic attack in a cathedral tower, which she later realizes was triggered by awe, not fear. She resolves to write a travel guide for anxious people. In Florence, she weeps before a self-portrait by Rembrandt van Rijn, which resonates with her self-pity.

Carmel finds an old television interview of Phil that has been uploaded online. She holds back watching it but cannot stop thinking of Phil until she does. The interview gives her a chance to reassess her relationship with Phil despite his flaws. She also acknowledges the flaws in her memory and how Phil has influenced her flawed parenthood. In New Zealand, Nell meets a man named David, who endears her with his kindness. While in Bali, she watches the same interview with Phil and realizes her love for both her family and David. She brings David home to meet Carmel, who initially bristles at his posh English background. Nell urges Carmel to be kind to him. Carmel soon recognizes the way he makes her feel safe. The novel ends with Nell watching a bullfinch in Carmel’s back garden as she realizes the limitations language imposes on one’s existence.