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dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide
challenging
dark
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A well-written account of a woman’s attempt to understand and come to terms with her brother’s death. It moves between the present and their childhoods. Dark, emotional and slow paced book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide, Grief
Minor: Mental illness
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve loved the writing in every Anne Enright novel that I’ve read so far and The Gathering, winner of the 2007 Booker, is no exception. It opens with Veronica Hegarty travelling to England to retrieve to body of her brother Liam, whose drowning death seems to be the result of suicide. As the family gather to farewell Liam we learn more about them as individuals, and as a family. It definitely covers some dark and depressing topics - alcoholism, sexual abuse, mental health and generational trauma. But Enright’s prose is stunning, and there is some dark humour to help lighten the mood. She knows how to tell a good story, how to tell it well, and how to create memorable characters that often tug at your heartstrings. The book has a lot to say about memories, about family and about love. It’s told with compassion and real tenderness. It was an often bleak story beautifully told, making it a winner for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A grieving sister is bringing home the body of her beloved brother, who committed suicide, and, as their large family gathers together in Dublin for the funeral, trying to make sense of her memories - sort out the real from the imagined, understand what she witnessed and how it might have happened, and assuage her guilt over the secrets she kept. Although this book has some powerful things to say about the slippery, unreliable nature of memory, the complexity of family dynamics, the enduring damage inflicted by trauma and abuse, and the grim realities of life for many in Ireland last century, I didn't take to the writing style or the disjointed, rambling narrative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicide
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide
emotional
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
This novel parses through grief and trauma in a way that is not unlike the hologram computers used in movie franchises such as Marvel. Memories, true or false, circulate all around you before falling into place. While not a diverse set of characters, the lives of the characters included critique Ireland's conservative social and government structures.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicide