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A review by abbyoreilly
A Ghost In The Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
4.0
“The human effort to articulate a want and a love… The letter as a kinetic object of desire, in motion from one body to another. These spaces between Nelly and Art are all that I let myself see, how after a letter had left, one might linger at a window, imagining it held in the grip of a lover, and one’s own words moving quietly over another’s lips”
I have a complex relationship w this book! There are so many aspects of it I see myself in. It follows Doireann as she deep deep dives into the life of Eibhlín, an 18th century noblewoman and poet she feels a sincere connection with as she attempts to translate her poem from Irish to English. I really really related to the kinds of thoughts she had while conducting her research , feeling you’re forming a connection with someone you’ll never meet & the intimacy that comes with that, not wanting to imagine or falsify aspects of their life you don’t have access to out of respect, etc etc - all this I felt so strongly earlier this year researching women of glasnevin. Her prose is also beautiful. But I’m torn w her version of womanhood being so innately tied to the female body and its functions. “This is a female text” was repeated a bunch and essentially formed the basis of a lot of her relationship to Eibhlín as she experienced the traumatic birth of her daughter. Aside from this I definitely took a lot away from ghost in the throat and think I read it at a perfect point in my life - probably warrants a reread at some point
I have a complex relationship w this book! There are so many aspects of it I see myself in. It follows Doireann as she deep deep dives into the life of Eibhlín, an 18th century noblewoman and poet she feels a sincere connection with as she attempts to translate her poem from Irish to English. I really really related to the kinds of thoughts she had while conducting her research , feeling you’re forming a connection with someone you’ll never meet & the intimacy that comes with that, not wanting to imagine or falsify aspects of their life you don’t have access to out of respect, etc etc - all this I felt so strongly earlier this year researching women of glasnevin. Her prose is also beautiful. But I’m torn w her version of womanhood being so innately tied to the female body and its functions. “This is a female text” was repeated a bunch and essentially formed the basis of a lot of her relationship to Eibhlín as she experienced the traumatic birth of her daughter. Aside from this I definitely took a lot away from ghost in the throat and think I read it at a perfect point in my life - probably warrants a reread at some point