A wonderfully poetic exploration on the conservation of despair an the arbitrary symbology used to combat it. Not much plot and the characters are subsumed in the necessities of the mood, but worth the short visit it entails. ( )

Tolmie's books have very specific audiences -- I suspect this book is perfect for inspiring people to travel to Ireland, if they've never been. And fyi, her books thus far are not related at all, even though the covers look like they could be, so this novella definitely stands alone. Fourth Island is about a mysterious 4th Aran Island off the coast of Ireland, where lost people wash up through the mists of time. It's dreamy and lyrical, with elegant prose and just enough of that sense of fantasy that one can almost get pulled in... but also, if one starts to really pay attention, it reads a bit like the author took a mini-van tour of Inis Mor -- the biggest Aran Island, where part of the tale is set -- and then made a list of stuff to put in her book without actually writing a plot. A good checklist of both fantastic and cultural touchstones, without much there there. Fine and poetic and all that, but like that guy in your MFA program, it pretends more depth than it has. ( )