Is every second person in Wexford a Redmond? I am married into a Redmond family and find the name appears so often in Toibin’s work, much of that set in Wexford. “The Heather Blazing ” was my first fiction encounter with Toibin and with the fictional Redmond clan. What a treat that novel was.

Thanks for an absolutely brilliant discussion here.

As to your questions, I think there are some good answers up above in the comments.

The relationship between the couples is expanded. Edna
is apologetic for not giving Mary more rhubarb, even after she and her husband gave her daughter more love and attention than she ever has had.

The wake scene is longer and reveals more about the foster dad, even that though Petal loves him so much, he still has some flawed judgment.

Any other comments on the differences between the two versions?

As to the story itself, I thought it beautifully written, particularly the dialogue, and moving. I had better add that I did not even remotely countenance the possibility of incestuous relationships nor that the Kinsellas were related to the girl’s mother. (In the book she has no name, and I don’t think she even gets referred to as ‘petal’.)

That, coupled, with Petal calling her foster parent “Daddy,” shows she has grown under her foster parents’ care and learned the distinction between the person she calls “Da,” and what a very caring father figure can be like.