Yes, but also one of the problems for a novelist in Ireland is the fact that there are no formal manners. I mean some people have beautiful manners but there's no kind of agreed form of manners.

The novel is set during his last day in the school. He was the Garda sergeant of the village. His father was also the sergeant and did marry a second time although not during his time as a policeman.

John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) is regarded as one of the most important Irish writers of the latter half of the twentieth century.