Ironweed (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: William Kennedy
- First Published: 1983
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Regional
- Time of Work: October and November, 1938
- Setting: Albany, New York
- Genres: Long fiction, Regional fiction
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Homelessness or homeless people, Love or romance, Crime or criminals, Murder or homicide, Exile or expatriates, Restaurants, bars, taverns, or pubs, Missions or missionaries, Ghosts or apparitions, 1930’s, Poverty or poor people, Death or dying, Kidnapping, Gangsters, Organized crime
- Locales: Albany, NY
Characters Discussed
Francis Phelan, a baseball player during the 1900’s, a part-time gravedigger, and a longtime vagrant as the story begins. Francis is fifty-eight years old, almost toothless, and dressed in tatters when he returns to Albany in 1938. Albany is his birthplace, and he has been in self-imposed exile for twenty-two years, after accidentally dropping and killing his infant son, Gerald. While in Albany, Francis is visited by ghosts from his past as he exorcises his guilt for his wasted years.
Helen Archer, Francis’ constant companion on this pilgrimage....
[The entire page is 821 words long]
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