Letters from an Irish Hearth by Pat Greene is a collection of short stories about birth, death, marriage, and love—the events that mark all human lives. Yet they are particularly Irish stories, set in various locations around rural Ireland, and from a time now past. Capturing what would otherwise be lost, such as now out of fashion customs and turns of phrase, Greene’s stories bring to life a quaint old world where people still write letters, wait for a call at the village phone box, come over unannounced for tea, and just sit with each other in times of tragedy.