Heap Earth Upon It

Set in rural 1960s Ireland, the novel follows four siblings, the O'Learys, as they flee their hometown of Kilmarra for the small coastal town of Ballycrea in County Kerry, carrying with them an unspoken tragedy. The story unfolds through rotating perspectives: three of the siblings and Betty Nevan, a local woman who becomes entangled with the family. A brief prologue establishes an unnamed narrator who wakes regularly to a distant scream, finding strange comfort in its reminder of a lost "you."

In late December 1964, Jack O'Leary, 28, travels with his family toward Ballycrea. Tom O'Leary, the eldest at nearly 30, drives their pony and cart, eagerly greeting strangers along the road. Anna O'Leary, 26, snaps at local women who make rude comments about the newcomers. Peggy, approximately eight or nine and the youngest, is the only one who seems enthusiastic. They arrive at a rundown cottage owned by their landlord, Dr. Desmond. The cottage sits on one level with no stairs, a detail the siblings silently register. The next morning, the first anniversary of an unnamed woman's death, Jack addresses the dead woman in his thoughts, resolving to believe that 1965 could be good.

Tom spends his first weeks campaigning to integrate the family into Ballycrea. At Ger Doyle's pub, he meets Bill Nevan, a barrel-chested older farmer, agreeing with everything the locals say to ingratiate himself. At a gathering hosted by Ciara and John Moore, a local couple, Tom fabricates a backstory, claiming the family came from Miltown after their mother's death. He makes no mention of Lillian Kealey, Jack's dead girlfriend. Jack is stunned, realizing Tom has erased Lillian from their history. Anna, meanwhile, is captivated by Betty Nevan, Bill's wife, who sings by the fireplace, and describes the experience as the first time music has truly moved her.

Through scattered reflections, the siblings' backstory emerges. Their father, Joseph O'Leary, died in a bull attack when the children were young. Years later, their mother became pregnant out of wedlock. Tom, furious, wanted to send her to a convent; Jack resisted. She died seven hours after giving birth to Peggy, and Tom refused to call a priest or doctor. Peggy's father was never identified. Anna, who sat at her mother's bedside for the entire pregnancy, has never forgiven Tom. Anna also reflects that her deepest connections have always been with women, culminating in her relationship with Lillian.

The Nevans become central to the O'Learys' lives. Tom begins working on Bill's farm and finds in Bill a mentor and father figure. Anna develops a routine of spending time in Betty's kitchen each evening, describing this half hour of tea and sunset as the only peace she has known since Kilmarra. Betty, in her mid-forties, grows deeply fond of Peggy, noting the child has no mother.

Anna's attachment to Betty intensifies and takes on obsessive patterns. She follows Betty through the Saturday market. Left alone in Betty's kitchen, Anna tries on Betty's blue headscarf, then hides it in her handbag, secretly plaiting two of Betty's stray hairs into her own. During an earlier dinner at the cottage, Anna cut her fingers on broken glass, and Betty impulsively sucked the blood from the cuts, a moment Anna fixates on as proof of a deep connection.

Jack, meanwhile, begins working at Doyle's pub at Teresa Doyle's urging. Teresa, one of the Doyle sisters, has been drawing Jack out of his grief with quiet attention. He admits that his memories of Lillian may be "lovely exaggerations" and that Teresa represents the possibility of moving on. Outside the pub one Saturday night, he kisses Teresa for the first time, realizing he had forgotten he was still alive.

At a dance, Anna's behavior escalates. When Betty steps outside, Anna follows and confronts her; Betty tells her to "cop on." Later, on Valentine's Day, Betty discovers Anna's handbag and finds inside a Mass card (a Catholic memorial card) for Lillian Kealey, dead at 26, and Betty's own missing headscarf. Betty confides in Ciara Moore, and together they plan to set Anna up with a local farmer named Liam Hennessey to create distance. When Betty tells Anna she needs "a small bit of space," Anna is devastated. That night, she wanders to the Nevans' house, watches through the window as Bill and Betty kiss, and knocks to interrupt them. Standing in the dark with a box of matches, she fantasizes about setting fire to the grass to force Betty's dependence on her.

Bill offers Tom a job in New York, but Tom declines, unable to leave the family. One rainy afternoon, Peggy visits Betty alone and nearly reveals what happened to Lillian, saying she saw something from the bedroom while the adults thought she was asleep. Bill bursts through the door before she can explain.

In an emotionally raw evening at Doyle's pub, Jack confesses the truth to Teresa. Lillian was his girlfriend; he had a ring in his pocket the day she died; her death was covered up as an accident. Tom told Jack that Anna pushed Lillian down the stairs out of jealousy. The coroner suspected foul play, but the investigation was dropped because Tom convinced everyone it was accidental.

Anna arrives barefoot and rain-soaked at Betty's door at dawn. She confesses, "I've realised that I love you in the same way" she loved Lillian, and says she does not believe Tom's account of Lillian's death. She kisses Betty, who does not reciprocate. After Anna leaves, Betty confronts Tom: "Did ye kill her?" Tom says, "It was Anna."

In her final chapter, Anna provides a competing account. As Tom chases her through the night, she remembers differently: She recalls telling Tom that Lillian was pregnant and remembers Tom calculating that Lillian, unlike Jack, would not push back. In Anna's memory, Tom pushed Lillian down the stairs, and Anna's hand reached out a moment too late.

Tom catches Anna. His narration reveals he has planned how to kill her, including where to put her body and the alibi. The chapter closes with lines that strongly imply he carries out the act: "I pat the soil down with the shovel. I pat her on the head. Tomorrow, please God, I will plant a tree here."

Jack narrates a brief chapter acknowledging that Tom "took Anna out" and came back alone after dark. Believing Anna killed Lillian and seeing no alternative, Jack lets Tom handle the situation. He does not say goodbye to Anna "just in case she came back." He bids Lillian farewell: "I think it's time that I let you go."

Tom tells Bill he brought Anna to a convent in Cork, and Bill affirms he did the right thing. Betty passes through without speaking to Tom, and Tom notes she no longer looks at him "right."

Betty's final chapter, set months later, describes the aftermath. Peggy now lives with the Nevans; Bill has painted her bedroom pink and bought her a new bed, a puppy, and a fiddle. Tom has left for New York. Jack and Teresa have moved to Clare. Anna has never returned. Betty cannot forget "the maroon dirt that stayed under Tom's nails for a week," a detail that contradicts his claim of delivering Anna to a convent. Peggy asks if Tom will come back from America, then smiles and says, "That's good," surprising Betty. Betty feels a burning urge to ask Peggy what really happened to Lillian but decides to wait, watching as the child falls asleep.