Making It Up As I Go Along le Marian Keyes
The subtitle for this engaging and witty collection is typical Keyes self-deprecation: “Tales from an eejit who was buying shoes the day Life’s Rulebook was issued.” Those who follow the best-selling author on Twitter will already be familiar with her penchant for shoes, and ‘foncy nail farnish’, and Cadbury’s chocolate, and her adorable nephews the Redzers. Oh, and her long-suffering Mammy. Settling into this collection is like catching up with that funny friend you haven’t seen in ages who barely pauses to draw breath as she fills you in on her latest escapades. But for all the so-called glitz and glamour of a successful writer’s life (and Keyes fully appreciates how fortunate she is), there are moments of introspection too, and she candidly discusses her depression and her reliance on anti-mad pills. There isn’t an ounce of dullness in the book, whether she’s discussing her love of chemist shops or detailing her walking trip in France. You’d be hard-pushed not to enjoy this smile-inducing, mood-lifting, giggle of a book.
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Gull le Glenn Patterson
Is there a more iconic car for children of the 1980s than the De Lorean time machine made popular by Marty McFly in the Back to the Future movies? Glenn Patterson treats the lean, mean, driving machine with due reverence in his very entertaining new novel, which charts the (sadly short-lived) reign of the DeLorean dynasty in Belfast. It’s quite meta when you think about it – a fictional treatment for a factual story that couldn’t be more fantastical if it tried. The author’s note is truly fitting: “I made all this up, apart from the bits you just couldn’t.” It’s early ‘80s Belfast, slap bang in the middle of the hunger strikes, and jobs at the DeLorean factory are more welcome than water in a desert. For the most part, Catholics and Protestants manage to leave their differences at the factory gate, and the sight of the futuristic cars rolling off the assembly line fills everyone with unassailable pride. But the British government are mostly propping the facility up with large cash injections, and sooner or later the Emperor’s lack of clothing will be revealed. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read, I cannot recommend it highly enough.
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Sweetland le Michael Crummey
Sweetland could easily be set in Ireland, but instead it refers to a fictional tiny town on the shore of a remote Canadian island. This community of Newfoundlanders are close-knit but separate, but a wedge is driven between them when the mainland government offers each islander a generous resettlement package – as long as everyone packs up and leaves. Moses Sweetland, the stubborn old git whose ancestors founded the village, is the last-standing refusenik and he has no intention of leaving his life-long home. His nearest neighbours, sons of the only woman he ever loved, warn him that he risks being driven out if he doesn’t acquiesce. But Sweetland is happy to stay with his memories, and the autistic son of his only niece is also determined to stay on the island. This is a beautifully written book and a captivating story.
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Prosperity Drive le Mary Morrissy
Mary Morrissy’s newest short story collection reads more like a novel, the stories being linked to the same suburban Dublin street. The characters wander in and out of each other’s stories just as their paths would cross on the street, and we are frequently updated as to a character’s progress through the voice of another. Elderly isolation, abuse, infidelity, discrimination and childhood mortality are just some of the upsetting themes throughout the stories, but Morrissy’s deft touch ensures that the writing never gets bogged down in misery. Her turn of phrase is beautiful, and her characters are as real life as those we pass in the street every day. Even the children’s hospital that looms over Prosperity Drive is drawn into the action, in a very poignant story about a junior doctor and her difficulty in imparting negative news to parents.
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Sonraí
Darina Molloy, Lárleabharlann Chaisleán an Bharraigh, Bóthar Sheáin Uí Mhóra, Caisleán an Bharraigh, Co. Mhaigh Eo. Rphost: dmolloy@mayococo.ie Teil: +353 (0)94 9047953
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