A paragraph from Tana French's "The Keeper"

I am reading Tana French's new novel, The Keeper, the third book she's set in the West Ireland hamlet of Ardnakelty and featuring retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper.

Tana Fench

I do plan to talk about it in more detail when I finish, but I wanted to take a minute to point out that the quality of her writing is what puts French "in a class by herself" according to The New York Times. Here is one small snippet to give you a taste:

"These women [of the hamlet] won't tell her [what she wants to know about a dead girl]. All of them were born wearing the prime directive like a birthmark: say nothing. Talk plenty, keep the chat flowing, but when it comes to anything that has weight, saying it would only lead to trouble. Everyone here will say nothing expertly, but Lena is still fluent in her mother tongue, even if she refuses to speak it, She'll know, by whether they warn her off, if there's something they're keeping unsaid."

Does that give you a sense of the women, the community, and Lena's place in it? It sure does me. Remarkable.