Woah...this book was full on. NOT an easy read at all. I think one section of it contained some of the most brutal scenes of violence I have ever read. (All this written by a woman in her 80s!) This book was not a holiday read, so ending up with it on my holiday was bit of a mistake. I really couldn't get into it until on the flight home. I felt suitably in the mood then!
This book was amazing on many levels and the whole feel of it was ultimately uplifting and positive even though parts of it were really grim and hard to read.
This book is a book of two halves. The first half is based around a tight knit Irish village community, when suddenly a foreign man appears out of nowhere who claims to be a healer. He manages to fit into the community and locals are charmed by him and one of the local woman starts an affair with him, really in order to get pregnant because things are not happening with her husband. ANyway, it suddenly becomes clear that all is not good with this healer guy. He is actually one of the main protagonists of the BOsnian war and is responsible for mass murder of Bosnian Muslims and the siege of Sarajevo. He has been in deep hiding for years and when things finally come out serious revenge is taken out on the innocent, yet pregnant, victim Fidelma. To me Fidelma personifies what happens when unexplained evil things suddenly happen. How Fidelma and other people react to these horrible and traumatic events is the basis of the second half of the book.
THe second half is about Fidelma's new life as a runaway in London. Here other low paid workers from all around the world, who have all come looking for work in London, help her out ( or hinder her progress accordingly. ). She meets lots of badly paid immigrants,all trying to make ends meet in London and there are lots of different stories of their lives, all told in the first person in different varieties of broken English. As a teacher of English to non- native speakers I really could hear the voices of these people as they tried so hard to keep their dignity and sense of purpose in the underworld of their London existence.
This book was not perfect in many ways. Parts of the story were clunky. Often it didn't flow because the voices would change so often. Also Fidelma's cathartic visit to The Hague to see her mass murderer, ex-lover on trial just didn't work for me. I also thought the author was sometimes trying to cover too many 'issues' in one book.
But I have to say that this is my first Edna O Brian book and she is one hell of a powerful writer. What I liked was her ability to be so personal and intimate one minute and then she could suddenly shift her focus to a more global perspective. Her writing is beautiful and her sense of place was amazing, especially the Irish countryside and the bleakness of lonely lives In London. Parts of this book were incredibly beautiful, others incredibly violent and lots of passages were sad but ultimately this book ended with a sense of hope and love towards our fellow man. It was a tough read in many places but all respect to O'Brian for making me think and taking me on a roller coaster of a read.
No comments:
Post a Comment