The Ikon Maker by Desmond Hogan (1976, republished 2013 with an epilogue, 146 pages)

I hold Desmond Hogan in very high esteem.  I have done about twenty posts on his short stories.  The Ikon Maker is his first novel.   For the work of a young man, twenty six, it is amazing for its profound insights and the beauty of the prose.  I read it twice.   Once in a kindle edition and once in a traditional book.  

I think most readers of this novel will before they begin think it is a coming out story of a young Galway man.  It is this but it is much more.  It is the story of a woman who loses her husband and her son.

You should read The Ikon Maker as soon as you can.

Please excuse this short post, I am a bit under the weather.

 an excellent post on The Ikon Maker from Shaunna Gilligan , PhD

Mel u