Maggie O’Farrell’s Land Maps Memory, Colonialism and Belonging

Land is a novel about a family living in Ireland many years ago.

The country is being measured and mapped by British officials.

Tomás helps make these maps, but he worries that they leave out the meanings important to local people.

He wants to create another map showing old names, sacred places and abandoned villages.

His children are separated by poverty and migration.

The story travels across generations and connects their lives through objects and places.

A well, a gold ring, dogs and water appear again and again.

These things show that the past can remain part of the present.

The book asks whether people can still feel that they belong after losing their homes and being separated from one another.