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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A profoundly Impressive evocation of Northern Ireland told through that most classic account, an across the barricades secret romance. Built as it is on twists of the truth it seems to reflect the perversions of a divided society. It builds to a tragically inevitable conclusion that is staggeringly well realised and almost sickening at points
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Louise Kennedy’s ‘Trespasses’ takes a simple setup and executes it very very well. As a protagonist, Cushla is both pragmatic and deluded, tender but sharp. She seems a vehicle for the reader— the plot involves her sure, but it moreso takes place around her. Having had little previous knowledge about the Northern Irish Troubles beforehand, Trespasses feels like a true submersion. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I’d highly recommend reading this title as an audiobook; narrator Brid Brennan does an incredible job.
I’d highly recommend reading this title as an audiobook; narrator Brid Brennan does an incredible job.
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really loved this book. It has history of the Troubles in 1970s Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast, as a backdrop to a doomed love affair between a 20-something primary school teacher and a 40-something married lawyer.
It was easy to get sucked into Cushla's life - her alcoholic mother she lices with, her testy brother who runs the family pub, her mixed community and her half hearted Catholic life. Michael brings desire and adulthood into her fairly small life.
But of course around her are bombings, threats, the RUC, assault and murders. It's a tense and ugly backdrop.
You know going in that this affair can't last, even as both parties seem to fall in tense love.
I loved how the book was bookended by a 60-something Cushla at an art gallery and her reunion with a favourite pupil in 2015. The legacy of the Troubles, of British colonialism in Ireland. Endlessly fascinating.
It was easy to get sucked into Cushla's life - her alcoholic mother she lices with, her testy brother who runs the family pub, her mixed community and her half hearted Catholic life. Michael brings desire and adulthood into her fairly small life.
But of course around her are bombings, threats, the RUC, assault and murders. It's a tense and ugly backdrop.
You know going in that this affair can't last, even as both parties seem to fall in tense love.
I loved how the book was bookended by a 60-something Cushla at an art gallery and her reunion with a favourite pupil in 2015. The legacy of the Troubles, of British colonialism in Ireland. Endlessly fascinating.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Death, Murder
Written in a way that’s difficult to understand. Not much character development