Shannon is a long, meandering river in Ireland. In Shannon the novel, Frank Delaney guides us on the long, meandering walk of Robert Shannon, a mentally shattered WWI vet. Frank Delaney’s voice reading to us seduces the listener into imagining a warm fire in an old pub where the mellow atmosphere is as enjoyable as the gentle story.
The topics of Shannon are not gentle: WWI’s murderous battles, the newly recognized hell of shell-shock, dire poverty, family abuse, treachery, and religious scheming. Robert Shannon is an American priest who broke-down after rescuing dozens of individual soldiers from the frontline. The church applied the accepted treatment for shell-shock, which was almost complete isolation in a stimulus-free environment, an improvement over the previous treatment – being court-martialed and shot. However, for reasons not revealed until the end of the story, the church in Boston wanted Robert Shannon to be far away. Their awkward but useful “fix-it” bishop inspired Robert to discover his roots in Ireland through a walking tour from the mouth of the Shannon River to its source.
Healthy in body if not in mind, Robert undertakes the pilgrimage, and because he is a quietly heroic and gentle man, he receives kindness and stories wherever he goes. Gradually the people he meets bring him out of his mental prison through their own kind hospitality. Finally he finds the love of his life, Ellie, the nurse who cared for his welfare even as he was saving lives in the trenches. What is a priest to do?
Enter a villain! Patrick Ryan is an expatriate Irishman who grew up in the United States as a direct consequence of horrendous family abuse. His ability to hide his true self is psychopathic. WWI trenches were just what he needed as an outlet for his murdering ways. As a de-mobbed civilian, his life is more of a challenge.
Robert and Patrick and the bishop all meet up in Ellie’s house. The outcome is worth the long walk to get there.
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