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casperpumpkin 's review for:
A Swift Pure Cry
by Siobhan Dowd
This book started out chock full of jealousy-inducing descriptions, but then it turned into a somewhat typical melodrama. The setting is a small Catholic town in Ireland sometime between 1960 and 2000. The author rode the usual merry-go-round of problems, including the loss of a mother, a pregnant teen, a drunk father, and a wayward priest. I'm not sure I would recommend this to teens; the tone is much more adult than expected, and it never seemed to pull away from the microscopic descriptions to illuminate the big picture.
Favorite quotes:
"The [church] brought to mind a sinking ship. Wood creaked on the floor, across the pews, up in the gallery. Around the walls, a fierce March wind chased itself."
"He made the hymn sheet into a spyglass and twisted it to inspect the people in the gallery. Trix curled up on the floor, with her head on the kneeler."
"He didn't move to one side. Instead he made a tall bridge of his arm, so that she could walk under him, through the open door. As she passed beneath, she took care not to tread on his bare feet by accident. The smell of the woven wool carpet and the heavy velvet tick of the big wall clock made her feel the size of an infant."
Favorite quotes:
"The [church] brought to mind a sinking ship. Wood creaked on the floor, across the pews, up in the gallery. Around the walls, a fierce March wind chased itself."
"He made the hymn sheet into a spyglass and twisted it to inspect the people in the gallery. Trix curled up on the floor, with her head on the kneeler."
"He didn't move to one side. Instead he made a tall bridge of his arm, so that she could walk under him, through the open door. As she passed beneath, she took care not to tread on his bare feet by accident. The smell of the woven wool carpet and the heavy velvet tick of the big wall clock made her feel the size of an infant."