The quotation from Eliot is, "Time present and time past/Are both perhaps present in time future/And time future contained in time past." So they're both teasing out that — because here is this novel, written, set at that moment of the Irish economy which we call the "Celtic Tiger," when it was just booming like mad, changing Ireland out of all recognition, changing the Irish sensibility.
And then it all comes crashing down. Now the crash happens, if you like, after the end of this novel, but before Madden is writing it. So she's very aware of catching a present moment that feels present to the people caught up in it, and yet it's going to fall away. Absolute change is going to happen.
To listen to the full conversation on NPR, click the link:
www.npr.org/2014/06/08/319503161/capturing-a-dreamlike-moment-in-time-present
