by Cathryn_Conroy: This book absolutely consumed me. When I was reading, I fell into a trance—totally absorbed by the characters, plot, and the Irish countryside setting.
Masterfully written by Alan Murrin, this is the story of a very small town in Ireland named Ardglas in County Donegal. It’s 1994, and the women we meet are suffering. They are unhappy in their marriages and feel stifled with their minimal choices, suffocated by caring for children and husband day after day and limited by the culture, their religion, and the fear of gossip-fueled scandal in a small town that really serves to keep them in their place. The men feel their wives’ agony but instead of trying to assuage it, they contribute to it even more. There is cruel psychological and emotional abuse, which is devastating to the women. The couples’ entire existence is maintained by lies
There is no way out, as divorce is illegal in Ireland at this time, which is a vitally important part of this novel, as the spiteful men hold all the power, while the trapped women hold the babies.
The little town is shaken at the return of Colette Crowley, a published poet who is married to Shaun and the mother of three boys. A while ago, she up and left town with a lover, leaving her family in the lurch. Now she is back, hoping to reconcile with her angry and devastated sons. She moves into a dilapidated cottage she rents from Donal and Dolores Mullen, but what goes on in that cottage quickly becomes the stuff of gossip. Dolores is unhappily pregnant with her fourth child, while Donal is a seemingly crazed predator with eyes for beautiful, troubled Colette.
Meanwhile, Izzy Keaveney has found a dear friend in the local Catholic priest, but soon enough there is enough gossip about the two of them that her controlling husband James does something radical to sever the friendship—quickly. Izzy is not only deeply hurt, but incredibly angry. She also finds herself as a barely willing go-between for Colette, who seeks her help so she can see one of her sons in secret without Shaun’s knowledge.
And then tragedy strikes, killing one of the women and while helping the other two to move forward—albeit slowly.
Written with sympathy and a deep understanding of human nature, this impressive novel is as engaging as it is wrenching to read. It is an emotionally searing statement about dissatisfied and unfulfilled women.
