The year is 1991 when Lillis leaves Dublin for Scotland and a new life, a new start away from the grief-stricken world she finds herself in. Working as a waitress she lives in staff accommodation, learns to deal with her colleagues, and falls in love. Life has come good, away from her mother and brother she forges her way into adulthood her own way.
In the second half of the book we meet Lillas twenty years later, back in Dublin and about to become a mother and wondering, as most women do, what type of mother she will make. Will she be like her own? Verity, her mother wasn’t terribly good at it. An artist she was often neglectful, sharp and impatient with her Lillis and her brother Robin… and she was an alcoholic. Sometimes a recovering alcoholic but even when sober Lillis prepares for the worst before each meeting. Going to Scotland gave Lillis some time away from the responsibility of caring too much, something that seems to have been her role ever since her father left some years before. Lillis has a relationship with her father, his new wife and their two young sons but he isn’t one who can cope with the emotions of a young girl who is looking for support, he loves her best when she is bright and sparkly. Robin is also keen to move out of his mother’s sphere, looking to escape the responsibility of caring for a mother who never put him first. The siblings have a bond born of unspoken hardship and up until Lillis departure have shared the responsibility of Verity.
It would be a mistake to say this is a quiet book, in some parts it is so raw I had to set it aside a while to gather myself in order to continue, but at the same time it is understated; I felt like a spectator to Lillis’s world and felt her joy at new-found love as authentic as the grief that undulates with varying degrees through the whole of the book. That isn’t to say this is a gloomy book though rather it is thoughtful, honest and powerful.
I read the second half of this book, heart in my mouth after the heart-rending close of the first and it was only on completing the entire novel that I found myself hopeful that the twenty years that we don’t hear about first-hand also included many moments of joy for this engaging young woman.
Nuala Ní Chonchúir has written a semi-autobiographical novel, one where bad things happen to good people as well as accurately reflecting the inevitable change in relationships over two decades. I liked Lillis from the beginning, she isn’t painted as a saint and if I were her mother I may well have had a few things to say about her relationships but she doesn’t have that guidance and so battles through the bad times with steely determination. In the early days she can seem much older than her mere twenty years and at others much younger as she worries about other’s opinions of her but this is realistic, we are all made up of different facets and often when an author strives to convince their readers that a person is authentic, this aspect is forgotten and we are presented with uniform characters – Nuala Ní Chonchúir created one that I certainly won’t forget in a hurry!
A great review, Cleo, and thanks for reminding me why I bought this a little while back.
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I’ve had it for a while, it is one hard-hitting book and so engaging and thoughtful – I do hope you enjoy it.
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What a great review. I’m not familiar with this book. I’ll have to look into it more now.
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It was incredibly powerful and I read a couple of reviews of it before Cathy from 746 books recommended it to me… so glad I read it.
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Brilliant review! I’m definitely going to be buying a copy of this book now.
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Excellent news – I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
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An excellent review, Cleo! And it sounds as though this is a really interesting character study. At the same time, it sounds as though we get a look at the times and the place, too. Fascinating!
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Thank you Margot – it was a fascinating look at one woman’s life, and even better from my point of view is that we were about the same age so I could really relate to the earlier time period. There is such a lot within these pages incredibly interesting and thought-provoking.
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Great review! Sounds very powerful.
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Incredibly so!
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Great review! Sounds like this is definitely an author worth investigating…
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Thank you! It was different to my normal type of read and not a book I will forget in a hurry!
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Great review! I like the sound of this one.
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Thank you Laurel, I was very lucky to be recommended this one by another blogger – it hit the spot perfectly.
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Would that be Cathy at 746books that recommended it perchance? I’ve seen it somewhere on the blogosphere but it’s not a book I’m familiar with. I’ll be looking out for it now though. Absolutely fantastic review Cleo; I feel mine are so clunky when I read reviews like this one!! 🙂
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Spot on it was Cathy – you are really too kind, I compare mine to everyone else and many of them seem to have so much to say… I guess we all have our own style which is a good thing!
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Such an amazingly powerful book. I loved it for the same reasons as you.
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Thank you Cathy, and for the recommendation which came off the back of the topic of adoption quite a few months back – I’m so glad I read this one.
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Sounds amazing Cleo, definitely one for the TBR methinks! 😀
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I’ve had some wonderful recommendations from other bloggers and this one was one of the best because I’m not sure I would have picked it for myself but I’m so very glad I’ve read it.
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