The Searcher by Tana French

Cal Hooper #1

391 pages

Publisher: Penguin/Viking

Publishing date: October 2020

 

Blurb

Cal Hooper thought a fixer-upper in a remote Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force, and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens.

But then a local kid comes looking for his help. Trey’s brother has gone missing, and no one, least of all the police, seems to care. Cal wants nothing to do with any kind of investigation, but somehow he can’t make himself walk away.

Soon Cal will discover that even in the most idyllic small tow, secrets lie hidden, people aren’t always what they seem, and trouble can come calling at his door.

 

Review

To say this book has a slow start would be an understatement. The first quarter of the story leisurely meanders along. The reader is in Cal’s head as he reflects on his new life and surroundings in Ireland and what, and more importantly who, he left behind in America. The writing was beautiful, and Cal is an interesting main character, but the slow pace didn’t urge me to keep on reading. On the other hand, it is fair to say the story's pace perfectly matched the pace of the life Cal thought he was settling into.

Everything starts to change and speed up as soon as Cal meets Trey, a thirteen-year-old kid who wants Cal to use his police skills to find out what happened to their older brother who disappeared a few months earlier. Once Cal starts asking questions the story and events pick up speed, but it isn’t until the last third of the book that the tale really explodes off the page and events follow each other at a much faster, at times rather uncomfortable but always fascinating, pace.

So much for the story since I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I have a few thoughts about what exactly did and didn’t happen in the end. For starters, if you read crime fiction because you love the straightforward endings in which evil gets punished and everybody gets what they deserve, this may not be the book for you. I think it’s safe to say there are no clear-cut good and bad people in this story with the possible exception of Lena, the widow Cal befriends and ends up relying on for assistance. While that may not be ideal for a fictional mystery, it does feel true to life. In fact, true to life could be used to describe a lot of what happened in this book. The way small local communities are inclined to distrust outsiders and, for better or worse, tend to take care of their own, for example, as well as the rural gossip, and the leisurely pace of life. I haven’t decided yet whether or not I believe Cal, the former cop, would behave as he does in this story; his actions should go against everything he was trained to believe in. On the other hand, any other decision on his part might have let to more harm rather than a ‘satisfying’ conclusion so the jury is still out in that respect.

In an interview with the All About Agatha podcast (https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Sl35ZwxlgtSNxOrnKWYXb), Tana French revealed that she took tropes from the Western genre and applied them to the west of Ireland, and as far as I’m concerned, she succeeded very well. This story has that ‘loner against the rest of the community’ (the old gunslinger who gets rocked out of retirement for one more mission, to paraphrase Tana French) vibe that we also find in traditional westerns as well as the ‘us against the rest of the world’ sentiments we often encounter in small, close-knit communities.

For a long time while reading this story, I didn’t think I would want to read the sequel. The last quarter of the story changed my mind; I now can’t wait to find out what will happen next to Cal, Trey, and Lena. Bring on March 2024 and The Hunter.

 

Death in the Dark by Kitty Murphy

Dublin Drag Mysteries #2

297 pages

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Release Date: 11 April 2023

 

Blurb

Abduction. Accusations. And murder on the dance floor. Sparkle McCavity, young drag queen and employee of Miss Merkin, is missing, presumed kidnapped or even worse. Naturally, Merkin turns to reluctant sleuth and friend to the community Fi for help, but clues and suspects are worryingly thin on the ground—and the drag king Stan the Man is proving somewhat distracting. When Merkin’s niece is then found murdered, spiked on a light pole in nightclub TRASH, it becomes clear that Fi’s friends are in danger. Again. With the ever-inept Detective O’Hara becoming convinced that the most likely suspect is Miss Merkin herself, tensions begin to build among the friends. Could one of them really be responsible? After a strangely spooky séance, Fi’s best friend Robyn disappears. Guilt-ridden and distraught, Fi and her friends must double their efforts to save Robyn and Sparkle before it’s too late. Just as long as her increasingly complicated and distracting love life doesn’t get in the way!

 

Review

Before I say anything else, I have a confession to make: I have not (yet) read the first Dublin Drag Mystery. I’ll let you know at the end of this review whether or not I think that affected my enjoyment of this book.

As enticing as the blurb for this book is, I think I prefer the description of Death in the Dark the author used Twitter:

Intriguing or what?

And WOW, does Death in the Dark live up to that promise! There’s a lot to like in this book. Fi is a great and very likeable, yet realistically present, main protagonist. The cast of characters is nothing short of fabulous (as if I could use any other word when talking about drag queens and kings 😊). The interactions between them sound real and are entertaining. In fact, all of them grew so real while I was reading that I want to go out and watch their show…meet them. I loved the friendship they shared, the loyalty between them, and the love they so obviously felt for each other.

The set-up of this story was rather wonderful too. It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not crimes had actually been committed, and Fi, our reluctant hero, was anything but eager to start an investigation. For a long time, nobody is sure what if anything, is going on. But the more time goes by, the clearer it becomes that something is very wrong.

Fi’s investigation is anything but straightforward. She really doesn’t have any idea where to begin or what might be going on. She puts herself in dodgy situations and even goes as far as attending a seance. And when she eventually does stumble across answers the situation only becomes more horrific.

I’m not sure I’m doing a very good job indicating how much I enjoyed this book. It seemed to get everything right. The balance between serious and fun, between dark and light, and between mystery and personal story was just about perfect. I wanted to know about the characters as much as I wanted to know what was going on and whodunnit. Which is why I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that I will be reading future titles in the Dublin Drag Mysteries.

And on that note…

I’m afraid I can’t give you a clear-cut answer to the question if I should have read Death in Heels first. In general, it is always a good idea to read a series in order, of course. And I probably would have understood who-was-who in Death in the Dark a little quicker if I had read the prequel. But at no point, while reading this book, did I find myself lost, or scratching my head, or even wanting to kick myself for not taking the time to read the previous installment. One thing I do have to say is that if you think you might want to read both books, you must read them in order. Death in the Dark holds all the spoilers for Death in Heels.

Arthur and Teddy are Coming Out by Ryan Love

336 pages

Publisher: HQ Publishing

Release Date: April 13, 2023

Netgalley

Blurb

When 79-year-old Arthur Edwards gathers his family together to share some important news, no one is prepared for the bombshell he drops: he's gay, and after a lifetime in the closet, he's finally ready to come out.

Arthur's 21-year-old grandson, Teddy, has a secret of his own: he's also gay, and developing serious feelings for his colleague Ben. But Teddy doesn't feel ready to come out yet – especially when Arthur’s announcement causes shockwaves in the family.

Arthur and Teddy have always been close, and now they must navigate first loves, heartbreak, and finding their place in their community. But can they – and their family – learn to accept who they truly are?

 

Review

There is much to love about this story. For starters, there’s the setup. Imagine being a 21-year-old trying to work up the courage to come out to your family, only to have your thunder stolen by your 79-year-old grandfather. And, to make matters worse, your mother doesn’t take her father’s revelation well at all. For Teddy, it’s enough to decide he’s better off in the closet for at least a while longer. Arthur, while relieved to at last be able to live his life without hiding who he is, is worried about his relationship with Teddy’s mother. To complicate matters, Teddy finds himself falling for a young man he’s competing with for a job with the newspaper.

What follows is a romantic tale filled with wonderful tropes. We have a little angst, some jealousy, characters being oblivious about what’s obvious to those around them, first-time experiences, and a long-lost love, to name but a few. In fact, there’s so much going on in this story that keeping up with developments kept me on my toes. Since it also kept me fully engrossed in this tale, I can’t and won’t complain.

I absolutely adored Arthur. His patience and ability to forgive and forget was truly heart-warming yet never too good to be true. Teddy exasperated me as much as he endeared himself to me. Then again, he’s only 21 so his actions and reactions are only to be expected and, while it may take him a while, he does learn as he goes along and eventually makes all the right decisions.

The cast of secondary characters, while large, was varied and kept the story lively. And the same can be said for the story itself. There was quite a lot going on, apart from the (expected) romantic development and it kept the story moving along at a fast pace.

Overall, this was an adorable story as well as an easy and comfortable read. Should Ryan Love decide to write more books like this one, I will definitely read them.

And finally, in case you’re curious, here is a link to a post by Ryan Love on the Dubray Books Blog about what inspired him to write this story: https://blog.dubraybooks.ie/2023/04/11/arthur-and-teddy-are-coming-out/

 

Nora by Nuala O’Connor

426 pages

Publisher: New Island Books

Library book

Book Club Read

 

Blurb

Dublin, 1904. Nora Joseph Barnacle is a twenty-year-old from Galway working as a maid at Finn’s Hotel. She enjoys the liveliness of her adopted city and on June 16—Bloomsday—her life is changed when she meets Dubliner James Joyce, a fateful encounter that turns into a lifelong love. Despite his hesitation to marry, Nora follows Joyce in pursuit of a life beyond Ireland, and they surround themselves with a buoyant group of friends that grows to include Samuel Beckett, Peggy Guggenheim, and Sylvia Beach.

But as their life unfolds, Nora finds herself in conflict between their intense desire for each other and the constant anxiety of living in poverty throughout Europe. She desperately wants literary success for Jim, believing in his singular gift and knowing that he thrives on being the toast of the town, and it eventually provides her with a security long lacking in her life and his work. So even when Jim writes, drinks, and gambles his way to literary acclaim, Nora provides unflinching support and inspiration, but at a cost to her own happiness and that of their children.

 With gorgeous and emotionally resonant prose, Nora is a heartfelt portrayal of love, ambition, and the quiet power of an ordinary woman who was, in fact, extraordinary.

 

Review

This is going to be one of my ‘I’m not entirely sure what to say’ reviews.

Don’t get me wrong. Nora’s story captivated me. I loved her voice and the way she picked her words and formulated her sentences.

“Sometimes I crave a little alone time to just let my thoughts scatter.”

That’s just one example. I have a much longer list of Nora-sayings written down in my reading-notebook.

Nora was also an easy read in so far that I got swept up in the tale, found it hard to put the book down, and couldn’t wait to get back to it when I had to pause my reading. At the same time, Nora is anything but an easy read when it comes to the content of her story and in my mind, I retitled it…

The things we do for love…

Because you would need to love somebody deeply in order to put up with everything Jim Joyce put Nora through. From James refusing to marry her for the longest time, through the various locations where they lived in sometimes abject poverty dependent on others just to keep a roof over their growing family’s heads and food on the table, to a life led making sacrifices for James’s art, it takes someone special and an extraordinary level of love and trust to stay the distance.

I wonder if I would have had a better understanding of Nora and James if I’d known more about them and if it would have made a difference if I had read, for example, Ulysses and Finnegan’s Wake.

 I’m not sure how to write this review without summarising the journey the Joyce family made, and honestly, if you're curious about that, you're far better off reading this beautiful book.

Ultimately, Nora was a gorgeously written book about an anything-but-easy life. I was happily surprised to discover it was universally loved and admired by the members of my reading group, even if one or two felt the need to remark on the more erotic scenes in the story. I’m very happy I read this story. And it just goes to show that it is indeed true that behind every great man there’s a great woman because it is hard to imagine James Joyce reaching the heights he achieved without Nora facilitating his life and art.

 

 

Panenka by Rónán Hession

166 pages

Publisher: Bluemoose

 

Blurb

His name was Joseph, but for years they had called him Panenka, a name that was his sadness and his story. Panenka has spent 25 years living with the disastrous mistakes of his past, which have made him an exile in his home town and cost him his dearest relationships. Now aged 50, Panenka begins to rebuild an improvised family life with his estranged daughter and her seven year old son.

But at night, Panenka suffers crippling headaches that he calls his Iron Mask. Faced with losing everything, he meets Esther, a woman who has come to live in the town to escape her own disappointments. Together, they find resonance in each other’s experiences and learn new ways to let love into their broken lives.

Review

I read Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession just under a year ago and adored the book. As I wrote at the time, ‘it is a quiet read…sweet, uplifting, and all the more thought-provoking for it’. So, I went into Panenka with high expectations and I’m very happy to report that I wasn’t disappointed.

Like its predecessor, Panenka is anything but an action-filled page turner. And yet, the story gripped me from the very start, and I would have found it next to impossible to put the book down for long. Thankfully, there was no need for me to be away from the story for any length of time after I started reading.

This is very much a character-driving story. A story about life, the moments that define us, and the always present opportunity to choose differently and, maybe, do better. For the most part (and with the possible exception of Panenka himself), the issues the characters in this book face aren’t huge, or earth-shattering. That makes them all the more recognisable. And the same is true for the way they deal with their situations. And that’s what made this book so special for me. It doesn’t create drama for the sake of it, because life, with its ups and downs, is dramatic enough without overstating the facts.

What most impressed me about Panenka and its predecessor is the apparent discrepancy between what appears to be a simple and subdued story and the glorious, thoughtful, and thought-provoking language in which is told. So many sentences and paragraphs stopped me in my tracks. I’d re-read them while pondering the message or admiring the choice of word, the imagery, the depth. I’m sharing a few examples below, but I was spoiled for choice in this book and could easily have come up with a much, much longer list.

“It struck him how unreliable age was as a measure of anything. All it did was count the distance from the start when what truly mattered was the time remaining.” (p.63)

“Well look at us. I could have asked for the full tour – you could have shown me around all your own facts and circumstances, given me the tourist board version of yourself. A whole story that I would later have to revise or unlearn based on who you turned out to be. Bit if I start with what you’re actually like, pick you up where I found you, then at least I’m starting with my information. I can sketch you my won way, and then colour you in over time.” (p.99)

“At times this place has been like quicksand. At other times like the centre of the world.” (p.112)

“Sometimes, as I get older, I wonder whether all that’s left are the unfixable things.” (p.115)

“Loneliness is a torch. It can show you things about yourself.” (p.123)

“But isn’t that what allowing yourself to be loved is all about – letting something greater than fear into your life?” (p.160)

 

Long review short. Panenka is a treasure of a book. The quiet story it tells is filled with humanity. It touched me deeply without ever turning sentimental. Between Leonard and Hungry Paul and Panenka, Rónán Hession has earned his place on my list of ‘must-read authors’.

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

 116 pages

Publisher Faber & Faber

Part of The Art of Reading Book Club with Colm Tóbín

 

Blurb

It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him – and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church.

The long-awaited new work from the author of Foster, Small Things Like These is an unforgettable story of hope, quiet heroism and tenderness.

 

Review

“The worst was yet to come, he knew. Already he could feel a world of trouble waiting for him behind the net door, but the worst that could have happened was also already behind him; the thing not done, which could have been – which he would have had to live with for the rest of his life.” 

What to say about this book?

What to say about a story that left me both happy and dissatisfied?

Basically, this is the tale of a good man, Bill Furlong, paying it forward; performing an act of kindness that mirrors the similar act decades earlier, performed for his mother. I loved this aspect of the story. What’s not to like about a man confronting, facing, and overcoming his fears in order to do what is right?

I’m less happy that the story ended on the act, without showing us any of the consequences. Of course, it is easy enough to predict what might happen next, but I would have liked to see it unfold. As it is, I can imagine two very different outcomes and in an ideal (reading) world, I would have read about the positive option playing out. Maybe not immediately, but I like to think that in the end, Bill’s act of kindness would have been met by those who care for him, backing his decision. As it is, I will never know.

Then again, maybe that’s for the best. Rural Ireland in 1985 is not a place I recognise. Of course, my first visit to Ireland didn’t happen until two years later, but even what I saw, learned, and intuited at the time is nothing like what I encountered in this story. 1985, it doesn’t feel that long ago, but it is fair to say that Ireland has come a very long and mostly positive way since then. Based on the little I do know about those times and public attitudes back then; it is just as easy to imagine Bill’s act leading to the destruction of everything he holds dear.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the contrast between the way the story is told and what it is about. The writing is easy, gentle, and almost entirely without a sense of urgency. The content on the other hand is edgy, pressing, and filled with tension. Especially the first part of the book left me with the impression that I was reading a gentle vignette of times gone by. But the longer I lived with the words I’d read, the darker this apparently simple tale turned.

So, that’s where I’m at. Somewhat confused about how I feel about this story. It was beautifully written and deceptively easy to read. It was also darker than I expected, and it has left me with enough food for thought to last me days, if not weeks. While I’m not sure how much I liked Small Things Like These, I am very glad I’ve read it and I’m looking forward to (eventually) discussing this little gem with my book club.

Home Stretch by Graham Norton

 Publisher: Coronet

362 pages

Book Club read

Blurb

It is 1987 and a small Irish community is shattered by a terrible accident. Young Connor is one of the survivors, but staying among the angry and the mourning is more than he can bear. He leaves the only place he knows, taking his secrets with him.

But the unspoked longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind will not be silenced. And before long, Connor will have to confront his past.

 

Review

 Careful: This review contains spoilers

Honestly? I find the blurb I copied from the back cover of the paperback rather insufficient. When I marked the book on Goodreads, I found the following book description and it works a lot better for me.

 

In this “compelling, bighearted, emotionally precise page-turner” (Sunday Times), the New York Times bestselling writer and acclaimed television host explores the aftermath of a tragedy on a small-town to illuminate the shame and longing that can flow through generations—and how the secrets of the heart cannot stay buried forever.

It is 1987 and a small Irish community is preparing for a wedding. The day before the ceremony, a group of young friends, including the bride and groom, are involved in an accident. Three survive. Three are killed.

The lives of the families are shattered and the rifts between them ripple throughout the small town. Connor survived, but living among the angry and the mourning is almost as hard as carrying the shame of having been the driver. He leaves the only place he knows for another life, taking his secrets with him. Travelling first to Liverpool, then London, he eventually makes a home—of sorts—for himself in New York, where he finds shelter and the possibility of forging a new life.

But the secrets—the unspoken longings and regrets that have come to haunt those left behind—will not be silenced. Before long, Connor will have to confront his past.

A powerful and timely novel of emigration and return, Home Stretch demonstrates Norton’s keen understanding of the power of stigma and secrecy—and their devastating effect on ordinary lives.

Now for my thoughts:

I have to be honest and start by saying that it took me a few chapters to fully get into this story. Initially, it felt as if I was told far less than I needed to know in order to appreciate what exactly was going on. As it turned out, I was right. What was more, that was exactly what I should be feeling. This story is cleverly composed in such a way that the truth about what really happened and about Connor and Martin, in particular, is only revealed slowly by means of small hints that eventually build up to huge truths.

This story broke my heart several times. It starts with the day of the crash and that in itself was a devastating scene. What follows just makes matters worse. Poor Connor is basically banished from the place where he grew up, only to find himself alone and lost again not much later when his true nature is discovered by one of his housemates in Liverpool.

Which brings me to one aspect of the story that made me both sad and furious. To this day there are those who hate what they are themselves so much that they will take it out on others who are exactly like them. I guess beating up yourself is all but impossible, whereas unleashing that anger on others is relatively easy, but that doesn’t make that form of self-hatred less horrific and devastating.

To think that young Connor would rather have people thinking that he’d killed three other people through reckless driving than have them find out that he’s gay is one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever read. Especially since I have no doubt that for all too many (young) people the fear of being ‘outed’ is so deep and ingrained that they would rather be seen as something – anything – else, no matter how despicable.

But, the flipside of Connor’s banishment and him being forced to find his own feet at a very early age means that his journey made for fascinating reading. The secrets from the past hold him back for so long; he avoids any and all contact with the family he left behind in Ireland for decades. But, while he goes through ups and downs and it takes him a very long time to become his own man rather than what he thinks others want him to be, it is an interesting and eye-opening journey.

All characters in this story are flawed. For a long time, everybody in this book allows their fears, prejudices, and insecurities to direct their path through life. It is easy to sit in judgment of people’s actions when you’re ‘only’ the reader. The wonderful thing about this book is that no matter how questionable some actions and decisions are, by the end of the book, not only did those choices make sense, but they also led to better, healthier choices.

While it is easy to pinpoint Martin as the villain in this story, I think that would be too easy. While I have certainly had my own ups and downs in self-confidence, I can’t imagine making it to the age of forty or fifty without ever being able to just be who I am. Sure, every single act of Martin’s was despicable, but by the end of the book, it was impossible not to wonder if the biggest victim of Martin’s actions wasn’t Martin himself.

While Home Stretch is very much a story about a man coming to terms with who he is and his past before he can find his way to himself, it is also the story about Ireland and generations of people who were forced to flee everything they knew because the community they lived in wasn’t capable of seeing beyond the values they were spoon-fed from the moment they were born and, for far too long, saw as more important than even the people they were supposed to love unconditionally.

Over the decades described in this book, Ireland has come a long way and it would be nice to think that situations like the one young Connor found himself in are now a thing from the past. I fear that the reality isn’t quite as rosy. We’ve come a long way, but I feel we’ve got an equally long way still to go.

My final thought is that it proved impossible to read this book without wondering how much of Connor’s experiences were taken straight from the author’s life. Not the accident, but the feeling that the place where you were born, where your family continues to live, can no longer be your home feels pulled straight from the heart. Which makes me very happy that, eventually, both Connor and Graham Norton found their way back home, even if it was after a long stretch.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession

240 pages

Publisher: Blue Moose Books

Blurb

Leonard and Hungry Paul are two friends who see the world differently. They use humour, board games and silence to steer their way through the maelstrom that is the 21st century.

"The figure in Munch’s painting isn’t actually screaming!’ Hungry Paul said. ‘Really, are you sure?’ Replied Leonard. ‘Absolutely. That’s the whole thing. The figure is actually closing his ears to block out a scream. Isn’t that amazing? A painting can be so misunderstood and still become so famous.’

LEONARD AND HUNGRY PAUL is the story of two quiet friends trying to find their place in the world. It is about those uncelebrated people who have the ability to change the world, not by effort or force, but through their appreciation of all that is special and overlooked in life.

 

Review

This is one of those books I find almost impossible to review. The problem is not that I can’t work out whether or not I enjoyed the read. The answer to that question is easy: I adored this story. The ‘issue’ is that I’m having a hard time pinpointing, never mind putting into words, why this book captured me the way it did.

On the surface, very little happens in this story. The tone and pace are quiet and gentle, as are the two main characters. Nobody makes grand gestures or reinvents themselves. There are no major revelations or shocking developments. And maybe that is one of the reasons this book spoke to me. In a world where more and more people want to be heard and seen, where how loud, funny, or controversial someone is seems to determine their status, it was wonderful to read about characters who have no such ambitions, who ‘just’ want to live their lives to the best of their abilities without agonising about qualities they may not possess.

On the other hand, it’s not quite true that nothing happens in this story. Maybe I should have said that nothing shocking or huge occurs. Because both Leonard and Hungry Paul’s lives change between the first and the last paragraph. Those changes are gradual though and anything but earth-shattering. What’s more, they grow without the essence of who they are changing.

This story is as gentle as its two main characters. It’s filled with observations to make you think and/or smile. It portrays the charm in everyday life, the beauty in small moments we all too often fail to recognise. It turns what appears to be a lack of ambition into a victory of appreciating what is. Leonard and Hungry Paul is the ultimate feel-good story in that it shows us how much we have to be grateful for in what appear to be unexceptional lives.

I’m not sure why Paul is labelled ‘hungry’. If hungry can be defined as needing wanting, yearning for something (food, success, popularity, power), then Paul is the exact opposite of hungry. He is contentment personified. And while his lack of ambition at times worries his family, Paul himself is unconcerned. What’s more, the way the story ends implies that his laissez-faire attitude to life is anything but a dead-end street.

I loved the alternative sign-off for emails Hungry Paul came up with:

 “You may wish to note the above.”

Goodness knows that would be great advice to end almost any email with. 😊

In fact, the whole book is a parade of quotable scenes, thoughts, and statements. I stopped myself from marking all of them, but the following idea is too close to my heart and beliefs for me to not share it.

 “The kids’ lives are their own. From day one you are handing it back to them bit by bit, until they move on.”

Long (and confusing) review short: Leonard and Hungry Paul is a quiet read…sweet, uplifting, and all the more thought-provoking for it. 

Listening Still by Anne Griffin

Sceptre

345 pages

 Blurb

Jeanie Masterson has a gift: She can hear the recently dead and give voice to their final wishes and revelations. Shared by her father, the gift has enabled the family undertakers to flourish in their small Irish town.

Yet, Jeanie has always been uneasy about censoring what she hears to protect the feelings of the living. Unsure too about the choice she made seventeen years ago, giving up the chance of a new life in London with her first love, Fionn, to work with her father and aunt – or the wisdom of marrying her faithful childhood friend Niall when she has never quite been able to forget Fionn.

Until now Jeanie has stifled her doubts, but when her parents unexpectedly announce their plan to retire and leave the business to her and Niall, she is jolted out of limbo.

In this captivating successor to her bestselling debut When All is Said, Anne Griffin masterfully portrays a young woman torn between duty and a last chance to break free – unaware that she’s not the only one who has long been softening the truth.

 

 Review

What to say about Listening Still other than WOW. Anne Griffin has done it again, be it that for me, Listening Still isn’t quite as breath-taking as When All is Said was. However, that may be because I have very strong feelings about the subject matter of the latter book, and not because there’s anything wrong with Listening Still.

In Listening Still, we meet thirty-something Jeanie who finds herself reassessing her whole life and the decisions she made and avoided making. Born into a family of funeral directors and being one of only two people in Ireland who can hear the thoughts of the death, her future appears set in stone before she is old enough to fully realise what a future is especially since she loves hearing from the death as a child.

Jeanie is basically a good girl, who takes her responsibilities seriously and, for the longest time, without much question. When Jeanie’s parents announce their decision to retire and move away, the house of cards starts crumbling. Jeanie questions everything. With her dad being the only other person who can communicate with the recently deceased, Jeanie will no longer be able to share the burden. She has long held doubts about her father’s inclination to beautify the final words and revelations when relaying them to the next of kin. Was she right to give up on the love of her life in order to fulfil what felt like her destiny? Does she love her husband, Niall enough? Is the life she is living really what she wants and needs?

In many ways this is a coming-of-age story, even if Jeanie goes through the process somewhat later in life than most. Jeanie has always done what was expected of her and has taken her responsibilities very seriously without ever asking herself how she felt about it. Between her parents’ announcement and further shocks, her breakdown is hardly surprising. The question becomes if it’s ever too late to be what you might have been and if Jeanie could ever have been anything other than what she is. The story poses some further interesting questions, such as, why do we tell those seemingly innocent little white lies? Is it really to spare others pain or discomfort or are our reasons more selfish; are we in fact trying to save ourselves from uncomfortable situations or embarrassment? Listening Still also asks how much of our lives we live for ourselves. How much of ourselves our we willing to deny in order to accommodate others?

I can’t say I agreed with or understood many of Jeanie’s decisions, nor her refusal to make them. But I was fascinated by the dilemmas she faces, heartbroken about some of the consequences, and frustrated with her refusal to take responsibility for the consequences of her (in)actions. It is, however, not necessary to agree with or even like characters in order to get caught up in their journey, and Jeanie’s progress over the course of this book had me entranced.

Maurice, from When All is Said makes an appearance in this story. Well, his corpse does. And he doesn’t talk to Jeanie. What she learns about him, she hears from his son, Kevin. I can’t help wondering if Anne Griffin was tempted to make him speak to Jeanie, to explain his reasoning one more time. Whether she considered it or not, I’m glad she didn’t, because Maurice told us everything we needed to know about him in his own amazing and memorable book.

My romance writer’s heart struggled with the somewhat ambiguous ending, but that’s not to say there was anything wrong with how the book ended. Quite the opposite in fact. When everything starts from scratch, the future is, by its very nature, at least a little ambiguous. The story couldn’t have ended any other way; if it had, it would have been a betrayal of both the previous 340 pages and of the main character(s).

Long review short: Listening Still was a captivating read, even if it did read a little like a car crash at times. The twist near the end was clever in that it came as a shock as well as a moment of clarity. While this isn’t a book for someone who wants stories to end with every question answered and all characters settled into their happy ever after, this is the perfect read for someone who, like me, enjoys playing the ‘I wonder what might happen next’ game after they’ve read the last chapter. With a storyline and main character that will stay with me for a long time, Listening Still has earned itself a place on my ‘extra-special’ list.

To read my review of When All is Said, click here: Review

 

  

Make Yourself at Home by Ciara Geraghty

404 pages

Publisher: HarperCollins

Blurb

 It’s the last place she wants to be. It’s the only place left to go

When Marianne’s carefully constructed life and marriage fall apart, she is forced to return to Ancaire, the ramshackle seaside house perched high on a cliff by the Irish Sea. There she must rebuild her relationship with her mother, Rita, a flamboyant artist and recovering alcoholic who lives by her own rules.

Marianne left home when she was fifteen following a traumatic and tragic incident. She never planned to return, and now she has to face the fact that some plans don’t work out the way you wanted them to. But she might just discover that, sometimes, you have to come to terms with the story of your past before you can work out the shape of the future…

Set on the wild Irish coast, with an unforgettable cast of characters, this deeply emotional novel is full of Ciara Geraghty’s trademark heart and poignancy.

Review

Having read and enjoyed Ciara Geraghty’s books in the past, I went into this story fully expecting to love it too. I was not prepared for how much Marianne’s tale would capture me, keep me enthralled, and make me think.

On the surface, this is the story about a woman coming to terms with the unexpected demise of her marriage and the troubled relationship with her mother, and that would have made an interesting story.

Scratch that surface just a little, and you’ll find so much more. Marianne put her feelings on hold when she was a teenager. From that moment forward her decisions have been based on practical considerations rather than emotions. It was safe and, for some time, her distant approach to life and connections worked. She seemed to have it all: a practical husband who appeared to be as eager as she was to keep emotions at bay, a good and safe job, a beautiful house, furnished to her exact and unexciting standards. She’s created an environment in which she can pretend she is fine, her life is good, and the past is an ugly but distant memory.

When her house of cards falls apart, Marianne crumbles too. With all her securities torn away she has no choice but to return to the past, the house, and the mother, she’s avoided for more than half her life.

Going home for Marianne is like returning to the setting of a nightmare. Back at Ancaire (Anker—such an appropriate name), Marianne doesn’t try to be nice or take care of herself. She resents others trying to take care of her and puts as much distance between herself and her mother’s life as she can, given they’re sharing a house and her mother’s full-on approach to life.

Between Rita’s joie de vivre, the mixed bag of characters that make up Rita’s group of recovering alcoholics, and a persistent dog, Marianne appears to be coming back from the brink. Almost against her wishes, Marianne finds herself getting involved with causes and interested in people again. Until a shocking discovery throws her back to what appears to be square one.

This story packs a punch, yet it is written so well and so smoothly that the reader could almost miss that rather than an angry and selfish woman, Marianne is a lost soul who has struggled with depression ever since she was fifteen—for so long, in fact, that she doesn’t recognise her actions and reactions as a mental health issue.

For a very long time, Marianne reads as an unsympathetic main character whereas her mother appears to be a bundle of joy. And that’s where the beauty of this story comes fully to light. Because nothing is that simple and, just as Marianne is pulled out of her self-isolation almost against her wishes and in barely perceptible steps, I was surprised to find myself first sympathising with her and then understanding her actions and thoughts. This story and the characters in it are real and raw. They crawled their way under my skin. I wasn’t just interested in how their story might end, I was invested in their journey and its outcome.

I love that the book didn’t end on miracles. Instead, we’re given a scattering of possibilities, glimmers of hope, and potential futures. And while the above may make you think that Make Yourself at Home is a heavy and possibly depressing read, the opposite is through. Marianne’s darkest moments are balanced by the very mixed and mostly unfiltered company she keeps. For every painful experience, there is at least one laugh-out-loud moment. And Marianne’s journey is not only beautiful to behold but inspirational too.

Long story short: Make Yourself at Home is an amazing read. It will make you think and feel, but most of all, it will ultimately lift you up and leave you with a satisfied smile on your face. This book is exactly what I needed to fight my 18-month long reading slump.

The Art of the Glimpse - 100 Irish Short Stories Selected by Sinéad Gleeson

 

Blurb

An anthology of the very best Irish short stories, selected by Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations.

There have been many anthologies of the short story as it developed in Ireland, but never a collection like this.

The Art of the Glimpse is a radical revision of the canon of the Irish story, uniting classic works with neglected writers and marginalised voices - women, LGBT writers, Traveller folk-tales, lost 19th-century voices and the first wave of 'new Irish' writers from elsewhere now making a life in Ireland. Sinead Gleeson brings together stories ranging from the sublime to the downright bizarre, from classics to the new generation of writers, and from well known names to previously unpublished talent.

The collection paints a tremendous spectrum of experience: the story of a prank come good by Bram Stoker; Sally Rooney on the love languages of the new generation; Donal Ryan on the pains of ageing; Edna O'Brien on political entanglements; James Joyce on losing a loved one; and the internal monologue of a coma sufferer by Marian Keyes.

 

My thoughts

#100DaysofTheArtofTheGlimpse

This read is going to be something of an experiment. In general, I’m not a huge fan of short stories and I wonder if reading 100 of them, over 100 consecutive days will change my mind. Is reading shorts an acquired skill or just a matter of taste? I should be able to answer that question early April.

Having said that, I’m excited about reading stories by 100 authors, some of whom I’ve read before and loved or not, others I’ve heard about but never investigated, and another cohort I’ve never even heard of.

In more ways than one, reading The Art of the Glimpse will be a voyage of discovery for me.

“An anthology is a gift: a gathering of possibilities, and an opportunity to be converted into an avid completist of a writer’s work that may have otherwise escaped you.” – Sinead Gleeson

December 25^th.

The Quest by Leland Bardwell                      

A mother visits the son she gave up (was forced to give up) for adoption when she was sixteen. She doesn’t appear too curious about him, or overly eager to meet him. The reason he invited her only becomes clear near the end of the story; she’s not the witch he imagined her to be.

The saddest part of this story, for me, was the lack of emotion on the page and it makes me wonder; was she really as unaffected by giving up her son as her words seem to imply or is that a myth she’s made herself believe?

December 26^th

A Lingering Guest by Jane Barlow

This story made me smile while it broke my heart. It’s devastating to think that Ireland at the time was such a bleak please that an old woman would lie and pretend to be death to ensure a young granddaughter might willingly move to New York where she’d have better chances. At the same time, the love that must have inspired the old woman’s actions is heart-warming. I did stumble over the phonetic spelling at times, but most of it was clear enough for me.

December 27^th

Stand Your Skin by Colin Barrett

This story was thoroughly heart-breaking and open-ended. What happened to Bat? Nothing? Did his mother’s worse fear come true?

Whatever happened, whatever it is we’re not told, Bat’s story was devasting; a man lost in life, resigned to the blows and pain, relying on bad substitutes to control his pain. Without ambition and fully expecting to be disappointed, his story left me wishing for a longer version in which someone or something restores him to his full potential.

December 28

Men are Never God’s Creatures by Margaret Barrington.

I’m starting to wonder if short stories and I don’t mix. If that’s true it has nothing to do with the stories, I fear, and everything with me being unable to grasp the nuances.

I enjoyed this tale well enough. The ‘battle for power’ between church and the town amused me, even if I have a hard time imagining what it might be like to live in a world where priests (think they) have such power and wield it. But, I’m not sure how Jerry’s appearance, which very much is made off (both his beauty when seen from behind and the lack of it when face to face) has any relevance. In fact, I’m not sure how the constituent parts of this story fit together. Each on their own were fascinating, but all together, they failed to add up for me.

 After reading other people’s thoughts on this story I fear that I may have missed something. It wouldn’t surprise me. Even after twenty-five years in Ireland there are still quite a few nuances that escape me.

December 29

The Girls and the Dogs by Kevin Barry

“Things had gone wrong in Cork and then they went wronger again.”

And to be perfectly honest, things do not improve once our fugitive reaches Gort and Evan the Head. In a literal sense, this is the darkest story in the anthology so far. It is also the most straightforward short so far which makes the dark easier to deal with than the undercurrents I encountered in the earlier tales.

On a side note, it never ceases to amaze me how sentences that would have my editors screaming at me, make it through the editing process with larger publishers. Although, in this story that may be because of the first-person narrative, because the writing style does perfectly match the characters as I perceived them.

December 30^th

Ping by Samuel Beckett

I haven’t a notion what I just read. Is it a metaphor for the vagueries of memory? The only reason I suggest this is because at some point I thought ‘this is a bit how recollections work; they arrive in bits and pieces, adding and subtracting details as we focus on them. Then the word memory popped up in the story and I figured maybe I got it right.

Then again, the above may well be pure nonsense. Most of all this story read like a collection of words I all recognised that failed to make sense of the sentences they were forced into.

December 31^st

After the Wake by Brendan Behan

I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, it invariably does when I read short stories, but this was the first time in this anthology that I wished for more when the story ended. The ‘what happened next’ question is forceful, and I will never know.

I’m not surprised this story wasn’t published until relatively recently. The homoeroticism is neither understated nor hidden. It is a side to Brendan Behan I was unaware of until now, and I wonder if I should have picked up on it in other work by him.

But, despite my wish for more this is the first story that was perfectly clear for me and didn’t leave me wondering either what I’d just read or how I was supposed to interpret what I’d just read.

January 1^st.

Over and Done With by Claire-Louise Bennett

The atmosphere of this one is dark, to me. The dislike of Christmas, the eagerness to get rid of it, and the regret about having it brought into the house at all, in the form of holly, all speak of an event that should have been ignored. As to why that should be the case, I have absolutely no idea. The words used are too big and sad for something as a simple dislike of Christmas.

January 2^nd

Holland Park by Maeve Binchy

A Maeve Binchy story. It’s like revisiting an old and dear friend. Binchy was the first Irish author I knowingly read. It was she who introduced me to the word ‘eejit’. At the time I had to say it out loud before I realised what it meant. 😊

Holland Park shines with her trademark insights into people. She can put a fully fleshed character in front of her readers with just a few pen strokes and yet the image is so vivid it is as if she’s writing about somebody you’ve met not too long ago. I haven’t got a lot more to say. Binchy is a writing hero of mine and will remain so until the day I stop reading.

First published in 1978. Yes, I did go and check. Driving after three stiff drinks made me.

January 3^rd

Scaphism by Blindboy Boatclub

There are dark stories and then there is Scaphism by Blindboy Boatclub. I’d never heard about Scaphism, and to be honest, I now wish that was still the case.

Having said that, I can picture myself inspecting the bottom of men’s pants when they exit the loo from now on.

January 4^th

Ann Lee’s by Elizabeth Bowen

Oh my. I fear I’m just not good enough at reading between the lines. I’m sure there’s a point to this story, besides a shopping trip for hats. I’m equally sure the man who interrupts proceedings indicates something significant. Is the implication that Ann is not just a milliner? And is the man who runs by them in the fog the same man? If so, what terrible thing has happened?

Having said all of that. I read the whole shopping trip with a high level of both amusement and bemusement; the obsession with the right hat is so far outside my range of experiences it could have been written centuries ago, which of course this story wasn’t.

January 5^th

Concerning Virgins by Clare Boylan

A most wonderful fable with a ‘careful what you wish for’ and a ‘she who laughs last laughs best’ theme. There’s something delicious about a man who’s spent his life diminishing women getting his comeuppance from the women he hurt most.

January 6^th

The Morning After the Big Fire by Maeve Brennan

More a reminiscence than a fictional story? Not that it matters. It wonderfully captures the world view of a young child who can not yet comprehend the horror of a large fire but relishes the excitement such an event brings to an otherwise mostly unremarkable daily routine.

January 7^th

Leitrim Flip by June Caldwell

Well now, I honestly don’t know what to say about this story except that it is a BDSM tale unlike any I’ve read before (and I have read a few in my time). Definitely not a romantic depiction of dominance and submission. 😊

January 8^th

Here We Are by Lucy Caldwell

"There are times in your life, or maybe just the one time, when you find yourself in the right place, the only place you could possibly be, and with the only person."

A story about first (lesbian) love, the huge emotions accompanying it, and how your first never really leaves.

January 9th

The Wee Gray Woman by Ethna Carbery

A deeply sad tale about a man who, for reasons best known to himself, ends up causing the death of the girl he loves in a bout of unreasonableness.

Very much of its time in that it states things like:

"The little one-roomed cabin was tidy as a woman might have kept it."

Which just goes to show that double standards are nothing new. While women keep the place tidy, they also get send out to mind the calves if the man of the house decides as much.

January 10^th

Children’s Children by Jan Carson

I may be wrong (but I don’t think I am), but this reads coming together of a woman from ‘the south’ and a man from ‘the north’ reads as a metaphor for the island of Ireland and the difficulties people from both sides of the border have seeing the similarities because all they’ve ever focussed on are the differences. In fact, it is a wonderful example of how short-sighted and silly the whole us vs. them mindset is.

January 11^th

One Word by Juanita Casey

I have absolutely no idea what this story was about unless it is an illustration of how numbing and futile life can be. It is possible that the abuse of the donkeys, were named after the two men Miss Judith Dannaher didn’t marry, was supposed to be funny as well as an indication of her desperation, but really, I just saw a woman hurting a mostly harmless animal.

January 12^th

Beatrice by Evelyn Conlon

“Why am I doing this? To hear myself described in a new way, that’s it.”

The exciting start, uncomfortable middle, and inevitable demise of an affair. A variation on the ‘grass is always greener’ theme, proving that most of the time, the greenness is only visible at first glance before we take a good look.

January 13^th

A Family Occasion by Emma Cooke

Ah, this was lovely. Description of a family gathering when the two daughters who live and work in London come home for their annual visit. Mention is made of differences between the siblings and religious tension but in the end, family is family and they all look out for each other. As I said, lovely. And given the day that’s in it (Mother and Baby Homes Report), a story about a family that doesn’t allow differences to stand in the way of love and connection is just what I needed.

January 14^th

The Awakening by Daniel Corkery

A coming-of-age story? A young(ish) man is handed control over the family’s fishing boat when the old captain, who’s been in charge ever since the younger’s father died, decides to retire. His delight is tempered by the eventual realisation that despite the captain’s jovial mood and words, the older man is sad to leave his old life behind.

Beautiful descriptions of the sea and fishing as the youngish lad fully recognises those for the first time.

January 15^th

Sleeping With a Stranger by Mary Costello

Nowhere near as exciting as the title suggests at first, this story portrays a man reflecting on his life and marriage as his mother dies. A sad reflection on a life perceived as unfulfilled.

“They had children because they could not be childless; childlessness would have amplified the loneliness of marriage.”

January 16^th

The Vocation by Kathleen Coyle

A very sad tale about a husband and wife after their only son leaves to become a priest without talking to his dad first. Simon, the husband, firmly places the blame on his wife but I can’t help thinking that if you’re going to make the raising of children the exclusive duty of women, you don’t have the right to complain.

January 17^th

A Swim by Elizabeth Cullinan

“All along they’d been outside the truth, just as they’d been outside love, and now the truth, like love, would not let them in.”

This story made me sad. Sad because of everything the (Irish) man and (American) woman don’t have and aren’t. Sad because the woman appears to be on a mission to save the man from something (himself?). Sad because by the end of the day the distance between them is bigger than it was when they arrived at the beach in Portmarnock. Did I imagine the superiority the woman seems to feel? I did love the man observing that while the Irish have a reputation for being prudish, they are a lot more carefree than Americans when it comes to changing on the beach. That’s still true. No matter how Catholic the Irish are supposed to be, they can be surprisingly liberal when push comes to shove.

January 18^th

Yew Tree Tharsp Sharko by Oein DeBhairduin

A story about grief as well as a myth/folk tale about the origin of yew trees with an important conclusion:

This tale reminds me that grief can bind us into a rigid loss if we stand in it for too long. If we become unmoving, unexploring of the world and unwanting of the company and kindness of others, we too risk becoming the lonely yew in the graveyard, so lost in our own grief, that we lose ourselves.

January 19^th

The Beautiful Thing by Kit de Waal

“I met my father in 1969 when I was ten, I don’t mean we were estranged; he lived with us, I saw him everyday. But one evening, at the kitchen table, while he polished his heavy winter boots, he started talking about coming to England and the day he got off the boat and I saw then he had a life that stretched back before I was born. So that’s how I met him […].

Reading this story left me with the impression that Kit de Waal’s father is (was?) a very special human being. His message to his ten-year-old daughter is one we would all be well advised to heed:

 “And don’t be angry. If you look, you will always find a beautiful thing.”

January 20^th

Speaking in Tongues by Emma Donoghue

Clever title, referring to kissing in this story about two women. There’s a bit of an age gap and a lot of attraction. Since the story is told from both perspectives, it is also the clearest proof ever that assuming is never wise and communication is important if you want to reach correct conclusions.

January 21^st

The Husband by Mary Dorcey

A wife, leaving her husband for another woman and the man’s attempts to cope and deal with it. Is he lying to himself? Is the situation so hurtful that he refuses to face reality and seeks refuge in denial, or is he right? We will never know since we don’t get his wife’s perspective and the story ends with her leaving and him believing that she will be back.

January 22^nd

The Pram by Roddy Doyle

Man, this is dark. Superstition combined with resentment makes for a stark story. And, because Roddy Doyle wrote the words, this is unsettling easy to read for something so sinister.

January 23^rd

Teatro La Fenice by Christine Dwyer Hickey

(This story won the Observer Short Story Competition.)

This tale left me sad. Two ‘old’ ladies in what appears to be a care home with the narrator doing what she can to stop people from noticing her, afraid of ending up on the locked ward where those who’s minds have given up the ghost stay. Are they friends or together because there is nobody else? What remains when all that’s left is memories and those are fading?

January 24^th

Virgin Soil by George Egerton

A very stark reminder of what the world was like for women until not too long ago, still is in (too) many places. Where norms and shame forced a disastrous innocence on women until it was, often horrifically, shattered on their wedding night. Is it strength, desperation, or both that gave her the courage to walk away?

January 25^th

Revenge by Anne Enright

How appropriate to reading in times of Covid to find a story in which the main character works for a firm manufacturing rubber gloves. Which is a surprising start for a story about a couple deciding to try out swinging, mostly because the husband has committed adultery and the wife thinks this would constitute her revenge. Of course, nothing works as she plans, and the story comes full circle with a wet patch in the bed taking her back to the rubber protective layer she used to have on her bed as a child. The whole tale left me feeling sad about relationships.

January 26^th

Dishonoring the dead by Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi

A funeral

Beloved parents gone

And a family torn apart.

Love’s illusion dead

As illusion stakes its claim.

 The living have no use for what the dead have to offer

And the dead have no use for what the living claim to offer.

January 27^th

77 Pop Facts You Didn’t Know About Gil Courtney by Wendy Erskine

I’m a bit lost about this one. It is exactly what it says in the title, a list of 77 facts. It does paint a picture of Gil Courtney, but since I had never heard of him and am not familiar with this music, it was mostly meaningless, as in, I’m not sure why anyone would want to compile this list.

January 28^th

Sojourn by Elaine Feeney

Once again not entirely sure what’s going on. Is this a couple trying to salvage something or about to split up? If the problem is his cheating, then who is Richard? But, no amount of confusion could dim the glorious beauty of the language used, especially when describing water.

January 29^th

Hump by Nicole Flattery

Not a fucking clue.

January 30^th

I Don’t by Lauren Foley

There’s a lot going on here. At first glance, this is a confusing trip into the head of a woman who is either desperately ill or dealing with desperate mental health issues. But in the middle of the mental chaos, there are references to doctors ignoring women, not listening to women, talking over and about rather than with women, and misdiagnosing women as a result. The frustrating thing is that I’m almost sure there’s more in this story, that I probably missed more than I found. The unsettling part is that this read like a horror story to me. The tumult in the narrator’s head seriously scared me.

January 31^st

The Lovecats by Patrick Freyne

On the surface a rather mad tale about two cats getting married, in a full-blown ceremony, after the Tomcat gets the other feline pregnant and as such it is funny. But, underneath it is also a tale about simple pleasures, about indulging others, just to make them happy, and about unexpected opportunities to reconnect. I loved this one.

I wonder if short stories are just not for me. I fear I may be too invested in full stories, with a clear start, middle, and finish to appreciate these fragments, moments in time. I wonder what came before, what it was that created the object of the story and when it ends, I want to know more. The persistent thought that I’m just not getting it, that I’m missing something, doesn’t help.

 

February 1^st

The Lady, Vanishing by Mia Gallagher

Short and oh so horrid and not just because of murder.

February 2^nd

Badger by Sarah Maria Griffin

I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’m expecting too much from short stories. I liked this one. I like that the identity of the elder sibling took me by surprise. I like the obvious closeness between the two siblings. I am confused as to what the discovery under the porch means or why knowing what it is makes the sound acceptable. Is that the difference between a novel and a short story? That the first spells the answers out whereas the second leaves the reader wondering?

February 3^rd

The Homesick Industry by Hugo Hamilton

If this story is about anything besides the soul-destroying boredom of a job not loved, I have missed it.

February 4^th

Egress by David Hayden

Egress – The action of going out of or leaving a place.

The title wasn’t the only thing that went over my head although that was the one issue easy to resolve. I have no idea what happened here? Is this a suicide and a description of a life flashing before the ‘victim’s’ eyes? Your guess is as good as mine (probably better, if I’m honest).

February 5^th

Reprieve by Dermot Healy

Once again, I’m not sure what exactly this story is about. A woman makes a momentous decision (hysterectomy?). Had the story been set in the Netherlands, I might have guessed euthanasia. Since this is Ireland, that won’t be it. But, if the story is the time leading up to an operation, what exactly is the reprieve?

February 6^th

Nine Years is a Long Time by Norah Hoult

Full story with a lot going on. On the surface it’s all about a woman (middle-aged?) coming to terms with the fact that the man she’s been seeing about once a month for nine years probably won’t be coming back. It leaves her with a financial dilemma but, probably much to her surprise, she’s also emotionally affected. There’s more though. It’s about getting older. About bodies changing. About perceptions and appearances. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

February 7^th

Standard Deviation by Caoilinn Hughes

Once again, I’m not entirely sure what this is about. I suspect however it’s all about the time we live in now and how it makes people, especially the younger generation who (barely) know life without social media and validation from strangers, look at themselves, their actions, and appearance through other people’s eyes; more worried about what other people’s reaction may be then how they themselves feel about a situation. It’s a sad state of affairs really, isn’t it? People losing themselves in order to live up to the expectations of others.

February 8^th

Trio by Jennifer Johnston

Tale of an execution the victim almost misses because he’s late. No explanation as to the why. The most chilling part was not the killing itself but the casual conversation about childbirth one of the two assassins kept up. That, and the fact that it’s written in such distant language that by the end, the shooting almost felt like a non-event. Fascinating what words can do.

February 9^th

A Love by Neil Jordan

“As I remember you I define you, I choose bits of you like a child with a colouring-book, I fill you out.”

A story about a goodbye, about the us never being able to revisit the past, no matter how hard we try. It is funny though how a story about memories made me reminiscence too. Because despite the Irish setting I got a strong sense of Rob de Nijs singing Het Werd Zomer from this story.

February 10^th

Eveline by James Joyce

Just goes to show that I should never take anything as a given. There were so many stories in this collection so far that I couldn’t really follow, that I was convinced a story by James Joyce would surely join those ranks. I was wrong. I understood this story all too well and it made my heart bleed for Eveline and the opportunity she doesn’t take.

February 11^th

Antarctica by Claire Keegan

It is no coincidence that this story came after Eveline. From one woman who doesn’t make a decision and foregoes the opportunity of changing her life for the better to another woman whose life is good making a decision that will take her to her personal vision of hell. Very well written though. The language plain and simple and yet, that undercurrent of dread was there, from start to finish.

It is shocking that I made it until here before I realised that these stories are organised in alphabetical order by author surname. #MustPayMoreAttention. So, I guess I was right when I said the two previous stories following each other was no coincidence. I was, however, very wrong about the reason why that was the case.

February 12^th

Drown Town by Colm Keegan

“Coolness comes off us like a ready-brek glow.”

AKA, how not to have a fun night out. I loved the direct, in your face language in this story. I’m less charmed by the open ending though.

February 13^th

The Intruders by Rita Kelly

There’s a lot of Irish in this story, which goes completely over my head, of course. Having said that, I do wonder if learning to understand Irish properly (also) stands for learning to communicate. We approach and comprehend language differently as we get older, and this very much is a coming off age story set in an Irish, all female boarding school. In such a setting, young and handsome teachers have a lot to answer for.

February 14^th

Hunger by Louise Kennedy

The day Bobby Sands died as seen through the eyes of a teenage Northern girl now living in the republic. If anything, it proves that no matter what Southern people may say, the issues of the North don’t live in the Republic's consciousness to the same extent. Although the last paragraph indicates that at least some Northern Irish people might to keep a distance from the politics too.

February 15^th

Under by Marian Keyes

Such a quiet yet distressing tale. A woman is in a coma and listens to her family imploring her to come back. She’s no intention of returning to her life though, and we only learn why slowly…devastatingly. Somehow Marian’s writing style, simple yet visual, quiet yet poignant, make Laura’s plight so much harsher. The desire to die touched a nerve while the ending filled me with both dread and hope. I can’t begin to tell you how badly I want to know what happened next.

February 16^th

Through the Fields in Gloves by Benedict Kiely

I’m going to assume this story is confused because the main character, with an obsession about women who dress in his eyes flamboyantly, himself is confused. Painting painted ladies…I guess it makes a weird kind of sense.

 

I can’t help wondering if Sinead Gleeson went out of her way to put stories on the same theme together while also introducing the authors in alphabetical order. That almost must be the case. Coincidence can only explain so much.

 

February 17^th

Sarah by Mary Lavin

This story was an easy and rather refreshing read until the very end. I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t for a story about freedom turning into a story about repression. I did not (want to?) see this ending coming and when it did, I wasn’t happy.

February 18^th

The Village Bully by Sheridan Le Fanu

A wonderful supernatural tale and, in contrast to the previous story, in this one justice is done even if a bit postponed and at a very high cost. It’s good to see that bullies were frowned upon long before modern times too.

February 19^th

Me and the Devil Eimear McBride

A devastating story. There’s so much bad and sad in these few pages. The hypocritical priest, the forbidden love, and consequences that will come, later if sooner isn’t possible.

Heart-breaking, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to cheering a little about how it ended.

February 20^th

Cancer by Eugene McCabe

Now here’s a title that fits several of the subjects touched upon in the story. Of course, it describes the fate of one of the two bachelor brothers. But weren’t the troubles a cancer on the land, and wouldn’t the Catholics have seen the English army as an occupying cancer?

It feels like another lifetime and yet, it’s not so very long ago.

February 21^st

Thomas Crumlesh, 1960 – 1992: A Retrospective by Mike McCormack

Oh my, while the story is perfectly clear, I do wonder what to make of it. Is it a statement about the often-obscure nature of modern art? About the lengths people may go to in order to produce something original? Given my limited appreciation for and understanding of modern art forms, I like that explanation and am sticking to it. Although it remains a bizarre idea that a surgeon would be happy to perform amputations until the point of death, just for the sake of art.

February 22^nd

High Ground by John McGahern

How I would have loved to know the ending of this story. Did young Moran take the job and replace the old headmaster? I like to think he didn’t, but that’s just my optimism, maybe. A nice insight into (local) Irish politics though. I’d love to say things have changed since then, but I’m not sure that’s the case.

Feb 23^rd

Transmission by Blánaid McKinney

A very good short. What starts out as a madman acting out turns into a heartbreaking tale of loss and an attempt to take back control of a life that appears to have lost all meaning. Destruction of the very thing that has destroyed a life makes perfect sense.

Feb 24^th

Those that I fight I Do Not Hate by Danielle McLaughlin

Kevin, persona non grata, is present at a first communion party where he’s obviously not wanted. Why he’s not wanted is never made clear although several options are hinted at. Is it because he’s cheated with his hostess? Because he has a problem with alcohol? Because he caused/was involved in a car accident? Whatever it is, my opinion of him didn’t improve when he gave alcohol to the underage daughter of his hosts and touched her leg.

 

Maybe I should look up the definition of a short story one of these days. It is hard not to think that one of the requirements has to be ambivalence as to content and/or ending.

 

Feb 25^th

Walking the Dog by Bernard McLaverty

Scary tale as a man, out walking his dog, is picked up by a gunman with a car. Scary mostly because I have no doubt shit like this happened. Scary.

Feb 26^th

Exile’s Return by Bryan MacMahon

This story did not develop in the way I feared it might and that was a wonderful surprise. Less cheerful is the subject of this story since it gives an insight into the all but impossible venture of keeping a marriage together and working while one of the partners is gone for years on end. The power of compromise is everything.

Feb 27^th

Sometimes on Tuesdays by Janet McNeill

I may be wrong but to me this read like a story about a man being selfish, only noticing the problems the two women in his life have in so far as they reflect on him or affect his life and comforts. Then again, aren’t we all guilty of that to some extent at least?

Feb 28^th

Hollow by Paul McVeigh

A fairy tale that seems to promise a happy ending until it goes absolutely horrid.

March 1^st

A Shiver of Hearts by Una Mannion

Simple and devastating. A girl returns to Ireland (Sligo) from America every summer, alone. Her mother was banished and refuses to return, no matter how much she misses her home. The friend she makes falls pregnant. Nothing much has changed; mothers still abandon their daughters when faced with premarital sex and its consequences. ☹

March 2^nd

Access by Aidan Mathews

I’m not sure if this is a sad story or not. A bit of both, maybe. A girl in her early teens meets with her dad for their weekly time together. She feels she’s no longer a child and too mature for certain words and actions only to discover, as we all do, that while we do get older, we never stop being our father’s (and mother’s) child.

March 3^rd

Women are the Scourge of the Earth

Harrowing story told from the point of few of a man defending himself, presenting excuses for something he has done to his wife. Classic abuser’s language. The woman was unstable and ungrateful. Everything that happened to her was her own fault and the whole world, but especially the women in his life, is against him. Sickening to read…and disturbing because it’s unclear what he’s done to her except to be rid of her now.

March 4^th

Home Sickness by George Moore

I feel this story is mainly about the inability to go back combined with ‘the grass is always greener’. Because while we can return to the place where we grew up, it will never fit the memories we hold of it; memories which are far better than reality could ever be. Self-censure is a beautiful but tricky thing.

March 5^th

Divided Attention by Mary Morrisy

This is an imaginative story about a woman who uses the crank caller who’s bothering her at night to get over being abandoned by her married lover. This is a rather inspired idea. Put two horrid things together in order to create a new start. If you could organise it, I could see this working as a form of therapy.

March 6^th

The Deserter’s Song by Peter Murphy

A story out of time and place. It reads as something about the Civil War, but burner phones and other mentions of more modern items make that setting unlikely. Mostly the tale made me angry. I have no time for blind obedience, and that is exactly what this story is about, with horrific consequences.

March 7^th

The Hungry Death by Rosa Mulholland

Innisbofin where pride (and what some might call romantic notions) come before the fall in the harshest of manners. Mind you, it was hard to feel much, if any, sympathy for Bridget, who threw it all away because she wanted to feel special.

 

On a side note, I’m noticing that I’m, in general, enjoying the older stories more than the more recent works and I wonder if that is because the contemporary tales are more ambiguous as if these days a story must be mysterious and open to various interpretations in order to be valued.

March 8^th

Away from it All by Val Murkerns

The end of a relationship, and rightly so. I’m glad to read a story in which the woman doesn’t make excuses for her man’s inadequacies but instead allows herself to see them and come to the (right conclusion). Timothy was a dick and almost certainly using her. Good riddance!

Clever though how the author depicts Timothy’s selfishness with very few words.

March 9^th

Literary Lunch by Eilis NiDhuibhne

I really liked this one, despite its darker theme. The frustrations of the unpublished, unsuccessful writer are brilliantly explored and with devastating results. Mind you, I’m inclined to agree that the Irish writers' world does often resemble a closed club with obscure initiation rules. You only need to look at the reviews Irish authors leave for other Irish authors to see the truth.

 

I just came across an Edna O’Brien quote about the male-dominated Irish writing scene. Given the subject of ‘Literary Lunch’ and an Edna O’Brien story coming up next, this seems the perfect place to share it: 'I never dared enter those precincts, nor was I invited. Nor was that where I wanted to be. I wrote alone.'

 

March 10^th

A Journey be Edna O’Brien

Reflections on an affair and how it may or may not continue. Two very different people. The ‘only’ thing connecting them appears to be attraction. But he has a life, woman, and child elsewhere and, by the time they part, she has no idea what, if anything will happen next. This read like an observation, almost emotionless, and all the more powerful for it.

March 11^th

Two in One by Flann O’Brien

Very clever and equally horrific and proof of a fabulous, be it morbid imagination. Two in One, indeed. A taxidermist’s nightmare might be a good alternative title. This is one short story that will stay with me for some time.

March 12^th

The Road to Brightcity by Mártín Ó Cadhain

Despite the somewhat upbeat ending, when the arrival of the sun lifts Brid’s spirits, this was a rather dismal story about the long road between home and market, the repetitiveness of daily life, and the shadowy places our minds take us, especially while the world is dark. Still, it was also a (timely) reminder to keep life in perspective. What we perceive as hardships now is nothing compared to the lives people used to live in Ireland and still live elsewhere in the world.

March 13^th

The Man of the World by Frank O’Connor

Interesting. The man of the world in question is a boy, one year older and from a better-off family than the narrator. The secrets he shares are of a typical boyish nature and delivered with an air of knowing supremacy. When the boy decides it doesn’t sit right with him he puts that down to God, while I suspect it’s more a matter of him growing up and learning that just because something is possible doesn’t mean it should be done. Which, of course, makes him a faster learner than his older friend.

March 14^th

Ailsa by Joseph O’Connor

Disturbing story about a disturbing mind. Male, of course. The timing is rather freaky though what with the horrific pictures of men subjecting women to unnecessary violence we saw from Clapton Common yesterday. Ugh. The most frightening thing about this story was probably the monotone in which it was told; the total lack of emotion from the narrator.

March 15^th

Squidinky by Nuala O’Connor

A beautiful story about love, grief, and overcoming pain and loneliness. Opening your life and your heart again, almost against your wishes at a most surprising time as the result of an unexpected encounter. How long is too long to grieve somebody you’ve loved?

March 16^th

The Glass Panel by Eimar O’Duffy

A most wonderful mystery clearly inspired by and in the style of a Sherlock Holmes story except that in this case, the assistant out-clevers the famous sleuth. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

 

If the previous story doesn’t prove that I prefer my reading with an obvious start, middle, and ending, I don’t know what will. My ambivalence regarding many of the stories in this collection is no longer bewildering.

 

March 17^th

A Dead Cert by Seán Ó Faoláin

I forgot that ‘a death cert’ actually means two different things in Irish-English. This story is rather sad. Unrequited love always seems to lead to dark thoughts battling the light. Still, a woman (or a man for that matter), no matter how attractive shouldn’t tease like this.

March 18^th

The Doctor’s Visit by Liam O’Flaherty

A story with a twist I didn’t see coming at all and appreciated all the more for it.

March 19^th

Under the awning by Melatu Uche Okorie

Powerful and a lot going on for such a short story. Of course, it was about racism, both blatant and overt. But it is also about we shouldn’t allow others to judge our story. Our personal experiences can never be appreciated by others the way we do. In this case I can only imagine how painful it must be to be told that the events you describe are too bleak and therefore overstated. Whereas I’m fairly sure the narrator had actually sugar-coated her daily life.

March 20^th

The Apprentice by David Park

Well-written and captivating story about a young man (boy?) doing something for the first time. What that is, is never revealed but it’s obviously something secret, something he’s nervous about, something he can’t talk about. Reading between the lines I’m going to say it is something gang or terrorists related, which means that although he does manage to be in the right place at the right time, it’s a bittersweet ending. It’s hard not to think it might be better for him if he’d missed the appointment.

March 21^st

Manners by Elske Rahill

I’m not sure what the point of this story is. Is it a reflection on privilege? Is it trying to be nasty or nice about travellers? Why do the sexual fantasies matter? This story left me with nothing except a vague feeling of unease.

March 22^nd

A Strange Christmas Game by Charlotte Riddell

Nice ghost story, but not as much of a mystery as it tries to be?

March 23^rd

Where Do I Go When You Die? By Keith Ridgway

Going by the last few lines I’m going to guess this is some sort of declaration of love. But until that moment it read like the ramblings of someone who had smoked a joint or two too many.

March 24^th

Robbie Brady’s Astonishing Late Goal Takes its Place in Our Personal Histories by Sally Rooney.

Right from the start this story felt familiar, although I’ve never read it before. Then I encountered the term ‘normal persons’ and it all made a weird kind of sense. The term also made me wonder if this story was written before the book titled Normal People because Conor and Helen and their conversation reminded me of Connell and Marianne. A quick Google search later I know that the story preceded the book by about a year.

As for this story seen on its own: It’s a rather charming lead up to the first time Conor and Helen profess their love for each other while he’s in France watching the Irish football team and she’s in Cambridge.

March 25^th

Physiotherapy by Donal Ryan

A life reduced to the main events: Married, a love affair, and a son killed, and reflected upon near the end of that lifetime, when husband and wife both do an exercise to counter the effects of the strokes they had. It could be me and my current mood, but I got a distinct ‘what’s it all for’ sense from this story.

March 26^th

Red Eye by Ian Sansom

Memories of a wedding which appears to also have been the Englishman’s introduction to Belfast. Quite a few prejudices confirmed too, especially about religious concerns. “Welcome to the family. Welcome to Northern Ireland. Welcome to Belfast.” Have to be honest though and admit that I’m not entirely sure what the point of this story is except to show that, like most others, the people in Northern Ireland are proud of their country.

March 27^th

A Rhinoceros, Some Ladies and a Horse by James Stephens

I’m not sure if it’s technically right, but to me this read like a nonsense tale. It was fun and made me smile but made very little sense at all.

March 28^th

A Young Widow by Bram Stoker

Not at all what I expected from Bram Stoker (mind you, I’m only familiar with Dracula). A fun romance with a hint of mystery to it and utterly charming.

Come to think of it. This is such a ‘common’ romance trope. The child bringing their guardian in contact with someone who will turn out to be the love interest and completion of their family. Just goes to show that there really isn’t anything new under the sun.

March 29^th

Black Spot by Deirdre Sullivan

Not entirely sure what this was about. Loneliness? Feeling unfulfilled?

I did recognise quite a few things though. The endless commute from home to place of work, meaning you leave and return in the dark because housing near the job is unaffordable for ‘normal’ people. Feeling resentful about a job you do actually like as a result of lack of respect from your colleagues and manager. And the feeling of dread that creeps up on a driver when they drive past a memorial at a black spot. I wonder though, was the beeping seat-belt alarm really a ghost driving along or was it just a broken sensor, possibly in the passenger seat?

March 30^th

The Story by Cathy Sweeney

The story, in this case is rather sad. Or rather, both stories - the one found and the one told by him who does the finding - are sad. Live without love or a love not recognised until long after opportunities have vanished, is there anything sadder?

March 31^st

One Minus One by Colm Tóbín

A sad tale about regret on the anniversary of a mother’s death. Thoughts send at a friend - former partner? Everything that was lost and unretrievable, all the things he never said and wished he had. Regret: it’s probably the saddest of our emotions.

April 1^st

A Happy Family by William Trevor

Devastating story about a wife and mother’s descend into madness? I wonder if it could also be a form of postnatal depression. But, the story is sad in more respects for example when the husband just supposes his marriage and family were happy. Maybe because he wonders if his marriage caused his wife’s decline?

April 2^nd

The Apple by Una Troy

‘She had never used her mind for thinking, only for recording the thoughts of others.’

Ugh. On the face of it, the tale of a nun returning to the place that used to be home thirty years ago. On a deeper level a vivid description of the ridiculous limitations the church has, for centuries, inflicted on those who believe, just because it could.

April 3^rd

The Sea’s Dead by Katharine Tynan

‘There was scarce a windowsill in Achill by which the banshee had not cried.’

Such a sad tale. Everything about and in this story is grey, dark, and filled with doom. Achill, the sea, a boat claimed and men lost, a large wave (tsunami?). Even the mystery about Moya and the mermaid myth she becomes doesn’t lift this tale in which even the glorious and vivid descriptions are gloomy.

*****

 Now that I’ve finished the 100 stories, I have to admit that they didn’t turn me into a lover of shorter fiction. While I enjoy some mystery in my reading and love stories which leave me wondering after I’ve finished them, I’ve discovered that I really don’t enjoy it when I’m left feeling out of my depth, as if I’m not smart enough to understand the nuances of what I’ve just read. While I’m willing to admit that it is possible that my mind isn’t configured for these tales, I remain disinclined to reach for a book filled with stories that may well leave me unsatisfied. I’m not saying I’ll never read a story collection again, but I do think they will be few and far between.