A review by foggy_rosamund
Hood by Emma Donoghue

5.0

A finely wrought and beautifully judged novel, exploring the seven days following the death of Penelope's partner, Cara. Set in Ireland of the early 1990s, Penelope, teaching in a convent school, is not out to anyone about her relationship with Cara, and is forced to navigate not only the loss of her beloved, but how to justify her grief to society at large. Using a mixture of flashbacks and and the intensity of the days following a loss, Donoghue celebrates Cara and her relationship with Penelope, and the particular loss of someone who dies at only 30. She creates a clear, convincing portrait of not only the difficulties of a queer relationship at this time, but its strength. This is also a profoundly tactile and erotic novel: Donoghue beautifully interweaves an intense sexual and sensual relationship with a romantic one, and shows how sex can deepen our understanding of one another and ourselves. This book is a brilliant example of writing about grief, sex and love, and is to be recommended.