Tag Archives: Reading

Book Review: The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan

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Another Irish writer, this is the first novel I’ve read by this author and probably not the last.

This is a story about four generations of women in one family and the challenges they face. Each short chapter reads like a short story capturing vignettes of life with these women. The main character is Saoirse born in the first chapter. She lives with her mother and feisty grandmother who are fierce in their protection and love for each other one minute and vehemently fighting with each other or others the next.  

‘Mother’s and Nana’s heads were nearly touching across the table, and smoke from cigarettes and steam from cups of tea ascended towards the ceiling in wispy, twisting clouds.’

The prose is lyrical as it is beautiful and Ryan captures the women’s voices brilliantly. There is nothing sentimental in the portrayal of each female character who possesses strength and vulnerability.

There are themes of love, trauma, unmarried mothers, grief, inequality as well as hope, enduring relationships and love. Not a word is wasted in packing a lot into this relatively short novel.

Give this one a go.

Book Review: Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell

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I’ve read a spate of Irish authors in the last couple of years and here is another one to add to the list.

It’s a powerful story and if you’re looking for a tension packed novel then this one is for you.

Ciara, a mother with two small children lives with a controlling and emotionally abusive husband. In one impulsive moment of desperation, she hastily grabs some clothes, puts her children in the car and escapes from the family home. With no money, no home and no job she is adrift in a system difficult to navigate during Ireland’s housing crisis.

The themes of abuse, coercive control as well as systemic issues where women face an uphill battle just to feel safe and secure is played out well in this story.

There are a range of emotions from sympathy to outrage to helplessness. And while this may be set in Ireland these issues are certainly not isolated to that country. I’d suggest it’s endemic across the world where patriarchal systems fail to cater adequately for women who need help. The author has put this front and centre which is why this is a powerful novel, shortlisted for a number of prizes.

It’s not all doom and gloom though as Ciara finds support not just from her family but also friends who provide a crutch for her, emotional as well as physical. Heart-wrenching at times, it’s  a hopeful read.

Book Review: Theory and Practice by Michelle De Kretser

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This story takes us to the 1980’s in Melbourne where a young Sri Lankan woman is undertaking a post-doctoral study of Virginia Woolf. She has moved from Sydney leaving behind a broken relationship. She considers herself a feminist but embarks on a relationship with Kit, who is her friend, Olivia’s boyfriend. Despite his insistence that he and Olivia have a deconstructed relationship, the woman is torn with her guilt for Olivia and her own desires. 

“Sometimes jealousy was a visitor from an alien galaxy that had nothing to do with me. Sometimes it was a frightening growth in my body for which science hadn’t discovered a cure.”

The woman contrasts Virginia Woolf’s middle-class Englishness with the tea pickers in colonial countries whose work in abysmal conditions enabled Woolf to the lifestyle she had at the time. And I found this to be an intriguing along with the other themes of racism and colonialism.

The characters are never completely likeable and it almost reads like a memoir. I found the story meandered in parts and found it difficult to connect with the narrator.

An okay read but not a memorable one.

Book Review: The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

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Set in Holland in 1961, two women are thrown together for the summer with consequences which affect their lives.

The book begins with reclusive Isabel who lives alone in the family home. Her two brothers are out in the world, Hendrik lives with his boyfriend, while womaniser Louis has a girlfriend, Eva who he foists onto Isabel while he’s away with work. Obsessive, compulsive Isabel despises the extroverted Eva which makes for a tense atmosphere in the house.

This is a masterful novel with a twist, I didn’t see coming. The shadow of World War Two permeates through the narrative, stalking each character with a trauma each is not keen to revisit. Eva has her own secrets which she keeps bottled up while challenging Isabel’s way of life in ways she never imagines. The relationship between the women changes in unexpected ways. There is quite a bit of sex which while done well began to become a little protracted for my liking. The story certainly zips along in the last third bringing the whole story to a satisfying end.

It’s a riveting read filled with obsession, passion and betrayal. It’s also about dispossession and rights of those who were displaced during the war.

Beautifully written with well developed characters, I enjoyed this Booker Prize short listed novel for 2024.

Book Anniversary: Sugar Creek

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Time has flown since Sugar Creek was released to the world and I’ve received many messages of support and love for this book.

Many have told me that once they start reading it, they can’t put it down until the end. I don’t know about you but as a reader that’s the sort of book I love too.

Do you like to read a book about two strong women in different timelines? I loved writing about Dana, a struggling doctor in 2000 and Ellen, an unmarried mother looking for justice in 1948.

Sugar Creek is discounted at the moment so if you’re looking for something to read over the holiday period then you might just like this one. It’s available on Amazon and the link is below.

Book Review: Saigon Siren: Memoir of a Stroke Recovery by Antonio Iannella

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As the title suggests, this is the true story of Antonio Iannella’s brush with death when at the young age of thirty-eight, he had a stroke while on a family holiday.

The story of his recovery is detailed and gives the reader a genuine idea of what having a stroke is like but more importantly what happens in the recovery stage.

He details the moments before and after the stroke and the trauma of being in a foreign country dealing with a language barrier as if what happened wasn’t enough to contend with. As you could imagine those obstacles would cause inordinate stress.

Taking us behind the scenes, Iannella shows us in detail the remarkable people who worked on his recovery. He had been unable to walk, could barely talk and effectively paralysed from the neck down. The occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists as well as the rest of the medical doctors and nurses were numerous but integral to his recovery. It gave me a thorough appreciation of the amazing people in our medical system.

This is a book of enlightenment which is also filled with useful information and inspiration. Iannella doesn’t take himself too seriously either as there are some quite genuine laugh-out loud bits as he nicknames his helpers, and makes light of some of the more serious issues he faces.

“Wrapped like a burrito, I was suspended above my bed. … hanging mid-air like an Italian salami my dad would tie to the rafters.”

There are metaphors for just about everything and maybe a bit too many but sometimes they’re needed to lighten the darkness of his horrendous experience.

It’s a well written and hopeful story. Give this one a go.

Book Review: Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

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Set in fifteenth century during the Ming dynasty, this story is about Tan Yunxian, a women born into a wealthy and influential family. She is brought up by her grandparents when her mother dies and under their teachings, begins training as a doctor. She meets midwife trainee, Meiling and they forge a powerful friendship even though their paths take different directions.

This is based on the real Lady Tan who wrote one of the first medical books for women. The author has re-imagined her life, the tribulations of being a woman with bound feet and the hierarchical system in China at the time. The research is impeccable and truly enlightening.

The practice of binding feet is tough to read, making the reader squirm at the vivid description. The practice of medicine and midwifery do the same so if you are at all squeamish you might find it even more difficult.

There is however a lot of medical information and some repetition which sometimes edged on an information dump. Nevertheless, it was interesting and enlightening.

The relationship with Meiling was heart-warming at times, although Lady Tan was naïve about the world outside of her inner comfortable sanctuary. She always seemed remote, lacking curiosity about the lives of others less fortunate. This didn’t always make her particularly likeable as a character for me.

To be fair, the author covered a lot of ground and perhaps at the cost of a full development of Tan’s relationships with other. Indeed, she cures her nasty mother-in-law and I would have loved to see how their relationship changed.

The second half of the book picks up pace as a mystery is resolved but the main star is the medical practice and the treatment of women in a male dominated world.

It’s a long book but certainly well worth reading.