Ben McCarthy is a grown man when he sits down to write about the year he was 18: the year he met Venetia Kelly. She was a beautiful 32-year-old woman headlining a stage act — the titular entertainment in Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show — who so enchanted Ben’s father that he left his wife, his son, and his farm to join the troupe. When Ben’s mother sends Ben out on the road to find his father and bring him home, the entire McCarthy family is drawn into the tangled history of Venetia Kelly, her mother Sarah, and her grandfather King. Author Frank Delaney narrates the story, in a rich, well-paced tone that hits all the story’s emotional notes — and offers Ben a one-of-a-kind voice.

Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show is an expansive novel, filled with strong characters — from well-meaning neighbors and ruthless criminals to shady politicians and men in love — and set against the backdrop of Ireland’s politically tumultuous early ‘30s. As a narrator, Ben makes it clear from the start that he’s prone to digression (blame the Blarney Stone) and that his view of the events has been colored by age; as a reader, Delaney gives “Important Digressions” and “Unimportant Digressions” the same care and emotion he gives to the novel’s dramatic high points. Delaney might be best known for his detailed novels about the Emerald Isle — which include the frankly named Shannon, Tipperary, and Ireland — but he also spent much of his life working for the BBC, where he covered current events and art, and hosted his own talk show in the early 1980s. His gentle Irish accent and mellow timbre are a charming complement to the novel’s witty prose and clever asides, and he handles the bittersweet ending with the proper blend of resolution and hope. —Blythe Copeland