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Fictional account of the IRA bombing of the Grand Hotel in 1985 during Margaret Thatcher's visit. The book focuses on three fictional characters: Moose Finch, the hotel's assistant manager, his daughter Freya who is freshly an adult and unsure of what she wants and David, the young IRA member tasked with creating and setting the bomb.
It's interesting. The characters are compelling and insightful, there is some desperately good writing, but somehow the whole thing is a slog. After a slam-bang opening, the book settles into a bit of a meander as we discover the characters: Moose was once a promising diver who forewent college for athletics and regrets it deeply. He sees Thatcher's visit as a moment of redemption and is gunning for the manager's position. Freya is unsure whether to go to university, to the great chagrin of her father, and is somewhat stuck in her hometown and carrying on with a coworker called Surfer John because, well, he surfs. Dan lives with his mom and tends to his late father's garden when he's not building bombs for the IRA. He is a bit wobbly to his commitment to the cause as he worries about his mother's health.
In alternating chapters, Lee moves the narrative at snail's pace, supposedly building tension but really capturing, in not the best way, the feeling of malaise these characters have. We should feel it for them. We should not feel it ourselves. This wastes, again, some exquisite writing and well drawn characters.
Lee does not take sides so much as observe and empathize with both parties, which is refreshing.
One just wishes his novel moved just a bit more. Was a bit more lively.
It's interesting. The characters are compelling and insightful, there is some desperately good writing, but somehow the whole thing is a slog. After a slam-bang opening, the book settles into a bit of a meander as we discover the characters: Moose was once a promising diver who forewent college for athletics and regrets it deeply. He sees Thatcher's visit as a moment of redemption and is gunning for the manager's position. Freya is unsure whether to go to university, to the great chagrin of her father, and is somewhat stuck in her hometown and carrying on with a coworker called Surfer John because, well, he surfs. Dan lives with his mom and tends to his late father's garden when he's not building bombs for the IRA. He is a bit wobbly to his commitment to the cause as he worries about his mother's health.
In alternating chapters, Lee moves the narrative at snail's pace, supposedly building tension but really capturing, in not the best way, the feeling of malaise these characters have. We should feel it for them. We should not feel it ourselves. This wastes, again, some exquisite writing and well drawn characters.
Lee does not take sides so much as observe and empathize with both parties, which is refreshing.
One just wishes his novel moved just a bit more. Was a bit more lively.