Eilis Dillons roman er sat under den irske borgerkrig i starten af 1920’erne. Forfatteren blev født i 1920 og romanen er fra 1958, så der er ikke tale om selvoplevede begivenheder men snarere en forsøg på at forstå og formidle et dybt nationalt sår.

I romanens begyndelse ankommer seks unge mennesker i Galway på vestkysten: De fire søskende Ruth, Pat, Nora og Brian, Ruths forlovede Colman og Pats ven og med-medicinstuderende Joe. Med er også barnepigen Sara og mosterens to spædbørn Paul og Jane. De unge er rejst i forvejen med tog fra Dublin, og målet er familiens traditionelle sommerferieresidens ude på landet på Connemare halvøen. Stemningen er anspændt fra starten, for ingen af Ruths søskende bryder sig om Colman, og med uroen i landet er der nok at være bekymret for.

Selskabet kommer videre fra Galway, men da de når frem til sommerhuset, viser det sig, at broerne bag dem er sprængt af republikanske guerillaer for at forhindre fristatsstyrkerne i at rykke frem. Det burde egentlig ikke være noget problem, for de kan sagtens købe mad lokalt, men allerede den første morgen bliver spædbørnene syge af flue-inficeret mælk, og kort efter ankommer de republikanske soldater på ejendommen. De har en såret mand efter bombesprængningerne, og hvad er mere oplagt end at slå sig ned i områdets største hus? Pludselig er der langt til Galway, og selvom Pat og Joe er medicinstuderende, der godt kan lægge en forbinding på den sårede soldat, så aner de reelt ikke, hvad de skal stille op med de syge børn.

Isolerede og pressede begynder sprækkerne hurtigt at vise sig. Mens Pat og Joe må agere voksne og ansvarlige, afslører Colman sig hurtigt som et selvoptaget fremmedelement, som selv Ruth begynder at stille spørgsmålstegn ved. Samtidig er hele familien lidt uden for i de landlige omgivelser, hvor naboerne er fiskere eller småbønder, hvor spædbørnsdød er en almindelige begivenhed, og hvor fortvivlelsen driver landets unge til USA – ikke til en privilegeret tilværelse i Dublin. Børnenes sygdom bliver mere og mere alvorlig, soldaterne kan ikke komme videre, den nærmeste læge viser sig at være en skør kvaksalver, der aldrig havde kunnet fungere som læge i en større by.

Det er nemt at læse de to tvillinger og deres sygdom som symboler på den nye irske stat, der straks bliver splittet i forbitret borgerkrig, men det er også en fortælling om unge mennesker, der må klare sig bedst muligt igennem under voldsomt pres. Som sådan er det en udmærket bog, der også giver en karakterfuld beskrivelse af det irske landliv i starten af 1900-tallet, men det er også en roman uden de helt store højdepunkter. ( )

Set during the Irish Civil War, in 1922, the MacAuley children (the youngest being 16) are traveling to their summer home, about 20 miles from Galway. They are accompanied by Ruth's fiance, and Pat's best friend and Nora's future hopeful fiance, as well as their aunt's babies and their nurse, Sarah. The parents are all arriving in a few days' time, or so everyone thought. As they travel, the IRA has blown up several bridges, including the one to Galway, so they are isolated, and the bombers have shown up on their lawn to camp out and receive treatment for one of their soldiers. As the few days of the novel progress, the babies get sick, and tensions are high because of the illness and the insurgents, as well as the condescending attitude of Ruth's fiance, Colman. Things eventually come to a head, and no one is the same afterward.
I enjoyed this book- characters were polarized, and it was easy to find things about them to like or dislike. Descriptions were lifelike, and the plot moved well. There was enough history for my curiosity to be piqued, and now I'd like to learn more about this time in Ireland's history.
My reading experience was enhanced by Irish music- from traditional and Celtic Woman to Van Morrison, U2, Mumford and Sons, and to pub rockers like Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly. ( )

It took me quite a while to finally get to reeading this book.
Now that I did, I must say that I find this an impressive book.

I learnt quite a bit about Irish history and liked the way the story was written.
It was, subject-like, a bit like other books about a family living through difficult times. What made this one different for me, was the form of writing. Quite matter of fact like, not too emotional, quite from a distance, but in such a way, that the characters seemed the closer.

( )

Eudora Welty said of Eliis Dillon's "The Bitter Glass," "An excellent piece of work to me, full of reality, full of poetry, written with a very sure and sensitive hand, I was completely won over by it." I personally don't see how...I found this book to be pretty awful.

"The Bitter Glass" is the story of a group of young Irish adults who are traveling to the country to for a summer holiday. Their parents are to follow on a later train, but the bridges are blown up by an IRA column so they are left on their own with two sick babies to care for.

I didn't think the characters were very well drawn-- I kept forgetting who was who and wondering why I was supposed to care about them. This is a short novel but it took forever to read... I just found the whole thing rather boring. It didn't provide much insight into "the troubles" or provide a compelling story of a family to follow.

I'm honestly not sure what makes this one of the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die." ( )