In 1999, a wonderful Irish story appeared in the prestigious Atlantic Monthly by a writer named Beth Lordan. Lordan is the critically acclaimed author of the novel "August Heat" as well as a short story collection "And Both Shall Row," neither of which were set in Ireland. Yet in Atlantic Monthly - and then in the 2002 edition of "Best American Short Stories" - Lordan was telling wonderful tales of Irish life, about locals as well as transplanted Americans. Lordan herself teaches at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where she lives with her husband. But she must visit Ireland quite often. Lordan's Irish fiction has just been collected in an insightful "novel in stories" called "But Come Ye Back." Yes, the title is a quote from "Danny Boy." More troubling still is that "But Come Ye Back" does indeed deal with an Irish immigrant who makes her way back to her beloved native home. But hang in there. Lordan is no mordant sentimentalist. She is a clear-eyed writer whose eye for the subtlety of the Galway landscape and people is matched only by her masterful depiction of what seems to be a successful marriage. Lordan's protagonist is Mary Curtin, a young Irish nanny who met and fell in love with Lyle Sullivan, an Irish-American accountant. For three decades, Lyle proved to be far from easy as a husband. But he does secure a good life in the U.S. for Mary, as well as their two children. Mary, of course, has contributed just as much to the family's fortune. And she has a surprise in store for Lyle when he retires. She wants to move back to Ireland. Lyle agrees, reluctantly. But in Galway, Lyle and Mary do not ease gently into a quiet retired life. Their marriage actually faces perhaps its toughest test. Lordan weaves a wonderful, complicated story, even if the "novel in stories" form is a bit cumbersome. ($23.95 / 288 pages / William Morrow)