Reviews

• Belinda McKeon has written a wonderful book unfolding the story of a young man and the place he comes from, his romance, marriage and the tragedy that marks his life and that of his father. A few words set out the bones of this story, but it is in her mastery of spare language that the people come alive in this short and compelling book.

• Being Irish I was a bit apprehensive starting into this novel. The Prologue grabbed me and dragged me right into the story. Appealing characters, interesting friends, real older people who talk like older country people. Great use of commons expressions in Ireland such as "now!" and "well?" These words carry so much meaning depending on the inflections. While set in modern Ireland not weighed down by the usual clerical abuse, banking crises, texting jargon etc etc. We get enough of that in real life. I was very impressed to see the well-deserved endorsements of Colum McCann, Colm Toibin et al. Nice to see Irish writers supporting a new and talented Irish writer. Good read.

• I really enjoyed reading this book. McKeon writes beautifully making her prose easy reading. Her storytelling was gripping and powerful and her characters were real and believable. Her subtle descriptions of people and places are just right and not overworked. I can’t wait to read her next book and I can totally recommend this one.

• I grew up in a part of rural Ireland not far from where this book was set. It was the first time I had ever read a book where I felt like the characters were people I knew. This was a novelty for me and added to the enjoyment. The story centres on the relationship between a father and son. Although it was set in Ireland it could be anywhere and I think this is a story that will resonate with many people. There are times when you want to say to the son, 'go easy on your father' and then there are times when you want to say the same to the father. Belinda makes you love these characters even though they are deeply flawed. It's a beautiful story and very well written.

• Upon reflection the story line is an interesting one, and kept me reading to find out what happens. It does reflect the issues of the time rather appropriately in modern Ireland. There are two key relationships discussed in the book, both around the central character (Mark) who is a farmers son. There is a relationship struggle between Mark and his dad (Tom) and how they become closer later in the book. The other key relationship in the book is with his city girlfriend (who as it turns out is also from his same townland). There are a few items that I did not like in this book. First of all the references to current affairs were vague and could easily have been more detailed. As an example the author is describing the late late show, the reference used was about 'some host talking to some guest about some music album'. Or a reference to the news she described 'some politician raising some issue about some event'. This is too vague for my liking. Finally the use of swear words in this book was unnecessary at best. Granted, there were words used during a dialogue between Tom and the local shop keeper; in these cases the use of bad language worked because they are the words a country farmer would use during normal dialogue. However, there were pages where is seams the bad words were thrown in for the sake of it; for example on one page the author said that Mark did not give a **** about ..... blah blah blah. The author could easily have describes the same context as Mark did not care about .... blah blah blah. As stated earlier the book does have an interesting story line and is worth reading it for that alone.

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