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A review by annabelws23
The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes
4.0
3.5* rounded up for the quality of the end.
I found I didn’t always keep a sustained engagement with this book, although admittedly I read most of it late into the evening. I thought at times it was often overly verbose - which due to the political and economic landscape of the book is not a criticism, but the first person narration by protagonist Hart, who himself claims to be the brawn not the brains of his family, felt like the interjection of Hughes’ voice/intellect (it is eminently clear throughout the book that she is an incredibly intelligent woman).
I found the brothers relationship to be compelling and well executed, particularly in the biblical allegory used to frame them throughout - this is followed through into a turn at the ending that was both surprising and set up beautifully in hindsight. There were a couple of scenes which really stuck with me, the priests story and the card game to name a couple.
Overall, while I wasn’t completely blown away by this book as a lot of people have been, it is a book that I will take away with me and keep thinking on. It certainly was a bleak epic in miniature, and for the depth of character and backdrop I must applaud Caplin Hughes. It will probably become a book that sticks with me and as I think on it will grow more into a 4* book in its own right.
I found I didn’t always keep a sustained engagement with this book, although admittedly I read most of it late into the evening. I thought at times it was often overly verbose - which due to the political and economic landscape of the book is not a criticism, but the first person narration by protagonist Hart, who himself claims to be the brawn not the brains of his family, felt like the interjection of Hughes’ voice/intellect (it is eminently clear throughout the book that she is an incredibly intelligent woman).
I found the brothers relationship to be compelling and well executed, particularly in the biblical allegory used to frame them throughout - this is followed through into a turn at the ending that was both surprising and set up beautifully in hindsight. There were a couple of scenes which really stuck with me, the priests story and the card game to name a couple.
Overall, while I wasn’t completely blown away by this book as a lot of people have been, it is a book that I will take away with me and keep thinking on. It certainly was a bleak epic in miniature, and for the depth of character and backdrop I must applaud Caplin Hughes. It will probably become a book that sticks with me and as I think on it will grow more into a 4* book in its own right.