His Father's Son - Tony Black

Joey Driscol went to Australia to make a new life for himself and his wife Shauna, trying to leave behind their problems in their homeland of Ireland. They've got a lovely young son now, Marti. However, we soon discover that their life is far from joyful and they are both still weighed down in their own ways by the memories and events in the past, with little communication between them, the happiness all but gone from their relationship. This uneasy situation culminates in Shauna taking Marti away one day, leaving Joey without the best thing in his life, his son. When he discovers where they have gone - back to Ireland - it's an enormous challenge for him to return there and meet again the family he hasn't seen for years, but one he has to face if he is going to see Marti and Shauna again.

This was a compelling, at times very sad story that is full of raw emotion, difficult relationships, fierce love and the highs and lows of life. The author writes movingly about what matters in life, and about how people can carry hurt from the past with them for many years without really facing it, trying to protect themselves and paper over the cracks but becoming susceptible to pain and depression as the worries and ghosts persist inside. The depth of love Joey feels for his dear son Marti, and the strain of having to revisit the past, is strongly evoked, and I felt for them all as I read. The characters were very well drawn and came powerfully to life, most of all Joey and Marti, and also Shauna who is battling the Black Dog. I think I would have liked to have known even more about her; having said that I felt that the focus of the story was right, with Joey and Marti's experiences foremost, and Shauna's thoughts seen through extracts from her diary, read by Joey. We learn of how each of them feels about, and views, the situation, the contrast in their perceptions, and the experiences of all three of them are important to the story. I could feel the awful pain when Joey realised Marti had gone and what he must do, and I could feel the anxiety and confusion as Marti tried to get to grips with his new surroundings in Ireland. I felt I knew Joey most of all though, the things that brought him immense happiness and the things that were a source of great sadness. 

I became involved in the book and willed things to go well for them, for this little family of three. The sense of place in both settings of Australia and Ireland felt real to me, and the use of vernacular language at times added to the authenticity of the characters. There is an element of mystery to the tale too; what happened in the past and what will happen in the future?

His Father's Son is beautifully written; a thoughtful and poignant read with an immense honesty about the writing. I felt the author wrote with a deep understanding of individuals and of family relationships and the story held many truths about how dark times in the past can haunt us and threaten our present, and the strength it requires in order to face that past.  Despite the intense, emotional nature of the story overall, there are light touches too and there is humour and innocence. A powerful, moving book.

Source: proof copy, many thanks
Publisher: Black and White
Author links: twitter @tonyblackuk | website
Other reviews: Liz Loves Books | Random Things |

A Place Called Perfect - Helena Duggan

‘It was as if everyone in Perfect was under a spell.’

This is a children’s tale by debut Irish writer and graphic designer Helena Duggan who has also designed the distinctive and apt cover artwork that illustrates her book's cover herself.

Violet Brown’s optician father is offered an attractive new job and the family moves to a town called Perfect. Violet is very reluctant to move, and doesn’t like the sound of the place at all. Ten-year-old Violet finds the place very peculiar; how can everything really be this perfect, she wonders, why does everyone wear those strange tinted glasses here, and what is it about the Archer brothers that doesn’t seem quite right? Then her Dad disappears and her Mam’s behavior becomes very uncharacteristic, leaving her feeling lonely and without any friends, the two people she loved and could trust letting her down; 'usually they were great, more like friends than parents. Perfect had changed all that.' When the slightest thing at school gets her into trouble, and then she begins to hear voices, she wonders what on earth is happening. Amongst all this chaos, she meets Boy, and she finds an ally and a friend in him; together can they make sense of what’s happened and find any way of somehow making things normal again?

This is a dark, imaginative children's story with magical, fantasy elements. I wondered if the story was somewhat allegorical too, in terms of how the majority of people in Perfect all behave in the same way, as they are required to, unquestioningly, and how there's a sort of resistant underclass. At times there is sadness, when Violet feels very alone in her new surroundings, with one of her parents gone and the other much changed from how she used to be. Violet is resilient, though, and determined, and once she is on to something she refuses to give up. 

I really enjoyed this inventive tale; it was a bit of an escape for me compared to a lot of my usual reading, with some creepy and macabre elements that added to the darker feel of the tale, though they could be a bit scary for some easily frightened young readers. The Archer brothers made for intriguing baddies and I like the depiction of them on the book's cover. Violet is a plucky heroine who gets fully involved in plenty of escapades and I think children of around her age will enjoy escaping into this mysterious adventure.

Source - author review copy
Self-published - available in paperback and as an ebook
Visit the author's website here and find her on twitter here
Views of other bloggers - Lovely Treez Reads | Random Things |

The City of Strangers - Michael Russell - Author Guest Post

I am delighted to feature a guest post by author Michael Russell! 

Michael's new novel, The City of Strangers, is the second to feature Irish detective Stefan Gillespie, and is published by Avon on November 7th 2013.

Author guest post by Michael Russell

THE CITY OF STRANGERS

‘The Yankee Clipper was approaching New York. Stefan saw something, the top of a building… then the city, looking down to Manhattan from the East River. It was exactly as he had imagined it, yet breathtakingly like nothing he could ever have imagined.’

Chandler’s Los Angeles and Hammett’s (and others’) New York are two cities that dominate 20^th century crime fiction. But if Los Angeles has the greatest writer, New York has something else. More than any city it defines the 20^th century. For most of that century it was the most exciting city on earth, especially in the 30s and 40s. No city even looked like it. Someone said there was one other city as exciting in 3000 years of western history, 4^th century BC Athens, but without skyscrapers, movies, jazz, air conditioning, or detective fiction (the only literary genre the Greeks didn’t invent?) – it’s no contest!

My first story about Irish detective Stefan Gillespie, set in Ireland and Danzig in 1935, was about the kind of killings that come out of the darkness that takes hold of ordinary people, but it took Gillespie close to darker events too, the rise of Nazism. I wanted to write a series using the same kind of tale to spin good yarns and to explore Ireland and its compromised ‘neutrality’ in the years before World War II, and during the war itself. I also wanted to ‘visit’ cities playing a role in the war, including neutral ones like New York (initially) and Lisbon. So New York was next when I wrote The City of Strangers.

Everybody falls in love with New York. As Milos Forman said, ‘I get out of a New York taxi and it’s the only city where reality looks better than the postcards’. But the first time I visited New York I was surprised not by how much ‘now’ was around me, but how much of the whole 20^th century. Walking the city - Manhattan isn’t so big you can’t just do that and be absorbed by its mixture of grime, chaos, wonder - you don’t need a gallery to see the art of the 20^th century, just look up. Writing a novel partly set in New York in 1939 was irresistible. So many things came together. Most importantly the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows; a sprawling, majestic vision of the World of Tomorrow, of democracy, plenty, life-enhancing technology, and hope for humanity. Almost every country on earth was there, though many were still colonial territories, but the great absentee was Germany. Within a year the only existence some countries had was a pavilion at the Fair; Czechoslovakia and Poland were gone. There was another vision. It wasn’t a fairground. It was about to plunge Europe and much of the world into the dark.

And that darkness was already in New York, despite its energy, despite the World’s Fair. When Garda Sergeant Gillespie arrives to bring a suspected murderer back to Dublin, he finds what he left behind has followed him. In Times Square American fascists fight anti-fascists in the street. Arguments about American neutrality and isolationism seem arguments about which side you’re going to be ‘neutral’ on. But it comes closer to home for Stefan. Some Irish-Americans, like some in Ireland, see war as an opportunity to rid Ireland of Britain for good. IRA plans for cooperation with the Nazis are hatched in New York as in Dublin. If Stefan thinks he’s a long way from what’s going on at home, the dead body of an old friend soon tells him otherwise. And when he offers to help an Irish woman who is in trouble as a result, he finds himself mired in unlooked for danger.

The story takes Stefan home before that danger is faced. On the way it follows him through Manhattan and Long Island, upstate to Lake Ontario and Canada. New York in 1939 is worth visiting. The City of Strangers is one way to get there. Don’t forget Duke Ellington is playing Small’s Paradise in Harlem, and watch for falling bodies if you’re heading to 7^th Avenue on West 59^th. When I started writing about New York in 1939 I had three things in my head: Duke Ellington playing Caravan; a newsreel of the NYPD marching in the St Patrick’s Day Parade; the island of Manhattan seen from a Yankee Clipper that had flown from Ireland. That’s often how stories start. Not always character and plot, but a place, an image, a memory. Small things you can’t get out of your head.

The next Stefan Gillespie novel will be set in 1940. It starts with Stefan investigating a seemingly motiveless murder in the Wicklow Mountains that leads him to discover that the accidental death of his wife Maeve eight years ago was murder too. It’s something that is going to turn his life upside down. The search for the killer will take him to the edge of the war in Europe, to the neutral city of Lisbon, packed with refugees escaping the carnage to come; to Franco’s Spain where a dying Irish International Brigade officer is still imprisoned; and to bitter retribution in England, as the Battle of Britain begins.

~~~~~

Many thanks to Michael Russell for this wonderful guest post.

Find Michael on twitter @ForgottenCities and visit his website here.

The first novel featuring Stefan Gillespie is called The City of Shadows, published by Avon

Find The City of Strangers on amazon here

The Lost - Claire McGowan

This novel is the first in what will be a series featuring forensic psychologist Paula Maguire. Paula has been living in London for over ten years, having left behind her life in Ballyterrin, Northern Ireland, wanting to escape the people and places that remind of her of sad times in the past. However she is unwillingly drawn back by a case involving two missing girls close to the Irish border, tasked with looking at potential links between these girls and the many missing girls from the past whose cases remain unsolved, their disappearances still a mystery.

I loved this novel and found it hard to put down. The pace is quick throughout; it's an exciting, enthralling and tense read with a well-balanced mix of psychological insight, action and investigation. Claire McGowan has depicted a setting tingling with nerves, a town with a dark and secretive atmosphere where everyone seems to be hiding something but nobody is willing to come forward and reveal what they know, making it a difficult job for Paula, seconded Met detective Guy Brooking and the rest of the team, as they try to prise open the tightly closed secrets of this community. 

The characters are engaging and author has done a skillful job weaving together a compelling storyline with links between the present and the past, incorporating aspects of recent history and dealing with politics and religion well; no mean feat. I was gripped, eager to read on and discover the whereabouts of the missing girls, to find out more about why they had gone, and why some who are lost might indeed not want to be found; the theme of the missing is a fascinating and tragic one.

Paula is a great lead character; I was rooting for her throughout as she often has to fight to be taken seriously amongst her new colleagues; she does what she believes is right but this antagonises others at times. Having been away so long, it's a great shock for her to be plunged back in to life in her old hometown, and dealing with those she left behind so suddenly is by no means easy. I found her believable and well rounded, and there is so much more that I'd like to know about her; the sadness that haunts her troubled past, the mystery surrounding her mother's disappearance, the future of the investigation team, her relationship with Aidan. This bodes well for future books in the series; I'm eager to read the next one already.

Published by Headline

Reviewed for We Love This Book

Thanks to We Love This Book and the publisher for providing a proof copy of this novel to read and review. 

A Parachute in the Lime Tree - Annemarie Neary

‘He’s got his heart set on something and he’ll not be blown off course.’

This is a beautifully written historical novel set primarily in Ireland at the time of World War II. It follows the lives of four main characters whose lives will intertwine and impact on each other in powerful ways.

Oskar and Elsa were next-door neighbours and sweethearts in Berlin before World War Two, but are now separated by war. Elsa, who is Jewish, escapes from Berlin and manages to reach neutral Ireland via the Kindertransport, separated from her dear parents who are left behind in Holland, and about whose dangerous situation she is so anxious. In April 1941, now a somewhat disillusioned member of the Luftwaffe and finding himself flying over Ireland, Oskar takes his chance and abandons the crew of his plane, deserting from the war in a desperate attempt to find his lost love, Elsa.

It is Kitty who one morning discovers the parachute caught up in one of the lime trees in the garden of her home in remote Dunkerin. Finding Oskar is a curious, exciting event in her humdrum life and will impact on her future. Elsewhere there is a Charlie, a young medical student who meets Elsa and falls in love with her.

This is a moving and emotional wartime read. The author transports us back to the past and draws us into the lives of these young people living and loving in such difficult times, experiencing such intense emotions. Through the skillful characterisation we get to know each of them as individuals and at the same time the author convincingly weaves together the four strands to her tale.

The writing is lyrical and beautiful. There is sadness, separation and anxiety, but also powerful love, belief and determination against the odds. Elsa is a talented pianist and her love of, and need for music keeps her going through hard, uncertain times. There is a beautiful, romantic passage when Charlie is observing Elsa play:

‘…once Elsa began to pick out he melody, the music took over. As he watched her play, he memorised the lie of her hair, the roll of her shoulders as she used her body to give power to the music. He knew that he would be able to mark this as the moment of his falling in love and he wanted to be able to remember every detail of it. He guessed that the feeling she put into the music signalled some other love that was lost now. He wondered if she would ever feel that way for him.’

I really liked how Annemarie Neary concluded the story; I personally love an ending that ties up loose ends and I thought it brought the novel as a whole to a fitting conclusion and touched my heart.

I also love how the book itself is designed, with the lovely pages subtly patterned with a black and white image of trees at the start of each section.

This is a very well-written work of historical fiction, powerfully evocative of place and time. I would certainly read more writing by this author. 

4/5

Published by The History Press Ireland

Thank you very much to the author for kindly sending me a copy of this novel to read and review. 

You can follow the author on twitter @AnnemarieNeary1 and visit her website here. 

This is How it Ends - Kathleen MacMahon

'There existed for both of them the possibility of happiness.'

Bruno has travelled to Ireland from America to try and find distant cousins there, a journey he had promised to make over thirty years ago. He is also trying to escape from the global financial crisis, having been a direct victim of it, losing his job in finance with Lehman Brothers. Addie is temporarily staying with her father Hugh, a surgeon nearing retirement, whilst he recovers from two broken wrists. It becomes evident that Hugh is also in the midst of being sued due to certain actions at work. Her sister Della and husband Simon live nearby with their four daughters. Addie is single, work for her as an architect seems to have dried up, and her most beloved companion in life is her loyal dog, Lola. Della and Addie lost their mother when they were young children.

The novel is set in the run-up to, and after, the American Presidential elections of 2008, alongside which is the backdrop of the economic recession affecting the world. Bruno arrives in Dublin with a month to go until the election, and three weeks after losing his job. Bruno, like many, is desperate for Obama to win and feels this would bring hope for the future, he is passionate about it. If McCain wins, Bruno vows not to return to the USA. Bruno contacts Hugh and Addie by telephone, but his messages are not returned, as neither of them feels inclined to deal with him. But after meeting on the beach one day, things will never be the same for Bruno and Addie.

Bruno and Addie meet and find a totally unexpected, life-changing happiness and love together, the like of which they both feel they have never known before. Bruno is nearly 50 and Addie is 38. There is so much joy between them. Bruno brings a lightness that brightens and opens up Addie's life. 'All her life Addie has had the feeling that there's a black cloud following her around.' There is a wonderful, eye-opening moment for Bruno when he looks at the tracks listed on Addie's iPod, the music that accompanies her day, and realises 'the way she had her life story set up, it was a weepie'. He determines from then on he is going to turn it 'into a feel-good movie.' As for himself, 'he felt like he'd woken up from a bad dream and suddenly everything was OK in the world.'

I loved Addie, with her troubles and imperfections, riddled with self-doubt and beset by loneliness, and I loved Lola. The strong bond between them really came across. Addie is lonely, taking long walks with Lola on the beach right by their home, where 'she can scream if she wants to and sometimes she does...She can cry hot tears of self-pity...Addie has a tricky head, she has a tendency to melancholy....It can be a full-time job, dealing with all the things that come bubbling up in her head.' Her escapes from what she has had to deal with in life are walking and swimming. Bruno makes a huge difference to her days, bringing about a transformation, with his enthusiasm and zest for life, and for exploring Ireland, and his insistence on sharing his love of Bruce Springsteen songs. 

This debut novel is a veritable emotional rollercoaster with joyous highs, devastating lows, and many poignant moments in between. There is so much happiness, yet there is tragedy, sadness, family secrets and regret. If you're looking for a bittersweet, charming love story that will make you smile, but that may also leave you in tears, with well-drawn characters you may grow attached to, then read this book.

I found that I engaged with and liked the characters, Addie most of all, and I found the love that grew between her and Bruno was charmingly depicted, such an honesty and innocence that they share. I also grew to care about Hugh despite his cantankerous nature; he's an old-fashioned man in a modern world. The characters felt very real, and their stories genuine. There is a gentle humour in places, - I loved the little part about the etiquette amongst dog owners, so true! - and there is a truthfulness about relationships. There is an acute awareness of the passing of time and how moments can seem both days away and yet also a lifetime away.

This is a very moving novel from Kathleen MacMahon. I was left a bit heartbroken on finishing it, to be honest, because of how I'd grown to care for certain of the characters. I can't say more as it'll spoil it. But you'll know why when you read it. This book also has a beautiful, and for me quite magical, cover design.

Published on 24th May 2012 by Sphere.


Thank you to the publisher for kindly sending me a proof copy to read and give an honest review.


4.5/5

Solace - Belinda McKeon

Mark Casey has gone from one way of life with his parents on their farm in rural Ireland, to the city life of Dublin, where he is an academic. He teaches part-time at Trinity and is working on his PhD about a writer, Maria Edgeworth, who came from the same area of Ireland as him. He visits his parents on occasional weekends and helps his father with the tasks on the farm. They have a difficult relationship; Mark knows that his father doesn’t understand the nature or point of his academic studies, whilst Tom, his father, is set in his ways and wishes Mark would be more involved in the farm, and sees that as Mark’s ‘proper’ future. This is one of the main conflicts, between father and son, past and future. As the novel commences, Mark is struggling to focus on his research, and it is whilst out drinking in Dublin with a friend and avoiding work, that he meets Joanne, a trainee solicitor, and they begin seeing each other. It emerges that there is in fact an interesting and turbulent history between their families. Then part way through the novel, two huge, unexpected events occur which will change all their lives forever. It’s hard to comment much further on the storyline from this point onwards without spoiling the plot for future readers.

This is a moving and impressive debut novel tinged with sadness, and it draws you in. The author captures accurately and beautifully the way relationships develop, with cleverly observed insights into relationships between new partners, between parents and children, and about everyone’s expectations of each other. It depicts the eternal misunderstandings and disappointments between generations; in fact this is what is very much at the heart of the novel. It deals with love, sadness and loss, and the demands of traditional versus modern lifestyles. The pace is slow and gentle, and then suddenly the author will deal a devastating blow. I keep thinking about the title, and where solace is found for the characters in the novel. It has been endorsed by Colm Toibin and I would certainly draw positive comparisons in the writing style between the work of his that I have read and this novel. If they are something you enjoy reading, you may enjoy this too.