House of Splendid Isolation is a newly reissued novel from Edna O’Brien, the author of Girl —“one of the most celebrated writers in the English language” (NPR’s Weekend Edition ). The heartbreaking dilemmas and the noble and bloody history of Ireland come vividly to life in the tale of Josie, a widow living in a solitary house outside an Irish village, whose home becomes the hideout of an IRA terrorist.