Fourteen-year-old Mary MacNamara does not know the words for what her father did to her down by the river, but she knows nothing will ever be the same again. She lives in a small town in the rural West of Ireland where superstition and petty jealousies fester; where poverty and ignorance make people hard, bitter, and unforgiving. Mary will find scant justice or mercy among those in her community--even less among those called to adjudicate upon her case in a city far away as her private tragedy is dragged into the public arena, making her doubly a victim, prey to militant factions on all sides. Recalling the controversial 1992 "Miss X" case which drew international attention and provoked a nationwide crisis of conscience within Ireland, Down by the River combines passionately held principle and rich, evocative language and imagery to transform a dark drama of violence and suppressed emotions into a work of art that is universal, cathartic, and sublime. • Down by the River was a national bestseller--#1 on Newsday list. • Reviews of Down by the River are some of the best of O'Brien's distinguished career. • O'Brien's previous novel, The House of Splendid Isolation, is now in its 7th printing in Plume. • Renaissance of interest in Irish literature and culture has potential to draw a whole new audience to this important and quintessentially Irish writer.