What a beautiful little volume of poetry! What puts this over the edge for me is the details - the research into the Stranorlar Mother & Baby Home in What a beautiful little volume of poetry! What puts this over the edge for me is the details - the research into the Stranorlar Mother & Baby Home in Donegal and the lives women who entered there led, as well as their deaths. My favorite poems from this are "Witness," "A Ritual to break out of a Field," and "A Hymn for all Restless Girls". I loved how the quotes and facts introduced and paired with the poem that followed each of them. Haunting, indeed!...more
This was a great sequel to Last Ones Left Alive - it answered a lot of the questions from the first one (but not why the Emergency/the skrake happenedThis was a great sequel to Last Ones Left Alive - it answered a lot of the questions from the first one (but not why the Emergency/the skrake happened!), and developed Orpen's character much more. I really responded to the messages about patriarchy, queerness, division, and loyalty in the novel, and I think young adults would really enjoy its subversiveness. The scene in the airport was amazing, I kept compulsively turning pages. I do think there were some slight pacing issues, but this is a strong sophomore novel. ...more
My favorite kind of movie is a "tight 90" - a film that packs a lot in and creates meaning and conflict and resolution, all in 90 minutes. This book iMy favorite kind of movie is a "tight 90" - a film that packs a lot in and creates meaning and conflict and resolution, all in 90 minutes. This book is a tight 90! First of all, I love that it is narrated by a man, a grown family man named Bill Furlong who himself was the child of an unwed mother but was spared the horrors of a mother-and-baby home by a wealthy benefactor. Furlong, who distributes coal, is sucked into the "open secret" of a Magdalen laundry right down the street from him, and he finds he can no longer look away. This slim novel is thoughtful, touching, and powerful in the ways it reflects a collective Irish reckoning with the past abuses of women on a national scale. It also has some lovely folklore bits embedded in it, and will be perfect for the chapter I'm working on in a book about folklore in contemporary Irish writing. You can see Claire Keegan's expertise in short story writing in the beautiful, economic prose. I've read most of her books, and I recommend Walk the Blue Fields (a short story collection) if you like this one. ...more
4.5 stars. This book is lovely - each chapter begins with a poem that is visually presented as an Ogham pattern and accompanies a section of the writt4.5 stars. This book is lovely - each chapter begins with a poem that is visually presented as an Ogham pattern and accompanies a section of the written myth of the Children of Lir, framing each section of the story told by Aife. I learned a lot about the original myth, and it was expanded and deepened by the reinterpretation through Aife's perspective. I liked that nothing was black or white here - Aife doesn't get wholly rehabilitated. This version is for anyone who likes feminist fairy tale or retellings of Irish legends....more
This book was so beautiful and unique that I want to shove it into the hands of every woman I know who is a mother. I love how it is a hybrid history/This book was so beautiful and unique that I want to shove it into the hands of every woman I know who is a mother. I love how it is a hybrid history/memoir that entwines the life of Eibhlin ni Dubh with the present-day life of the writer, a mother of four who is obsessed with uncovering Eibhlin's life through her keen and other secondary sources, as she contends with her own life as a wife, mother, and writer. I was blown away by the chapters on breastfeeding, the chapter on dissection, and on vasectomy. My only wee criticism is that it's a bit uneven with the memoir and history detective parts, and I could have used a bit more connective tissue (for example, the new baby is going to school all of a sudden? What happened in the meantime?), especially with a bit more about Ni Griofa's own life. But I've never read anything like this, and it's utterly fantastic. It's on Hoopla - read it!
I have so many favorite quotes bookmarked, but here's one: “This is a female text, composed by folding someone else's clothes. My mind holds it close, and it grows, tender and slow, while my hands perform innumerable chores.
This is a female text, born of guilt and desire, stitched to a soundtrack of nursery rhymes.” ― Doireann Ní Ghríofa, A Ghost in the Throat...more
An Irish zombie novel! Early on in this book, I didn't think I would like it as much as I ended up enjoying and being moved by it. It takes a while forAn Irish zombie novel! Early on in this book, I didn't think I would like it as much as I ended up enjoying and being moved by it. It takes a while for the protagonist to become someone you root for. The way family gets defined and redefined is super interesting, as well as how humans can be cruel to one another. The split timeline worked really well, and I loved the use of the banshees here--I'll definitely write about it....more
2.75 stars. This was a good novel, but it really dragged for me--even my husband noticed how long it was taking me to get through. When it was interes2.75 stars. This was a good novel, but it really dragged for me--even my husband noticed how long it was taking me to get through. When it was interesting it was really interesting, but the slow parts were really slow. There were some nice payoffs at the end....more
This book was between 4 and 5 stars for me, but I ended up on 4 because it took me forever to read it (which may be less of the fault of the novel andThis book was between 4 and 5 stars for me, but I ended up on 4 because it took me forever to read it (which may be less of the fault of the novel and more of the situation of reading it during a virus quarantine). It is an absolute epic saga told in chapters narrated by multiple generations of a family, with a different narrator for each chapter and some narrated by "the Hag". In terms of folklore, this novel was amazing - Mary's stories really drove the narrative and pulled the concepts together throughout. However, I found the novel unrelentingly heartbreaking, and I do love a sad Irish novel. The family ended up in every kind of horrifying institutional system on the island of Ireland, with the worst possible outcomes for each of them. My reaction, again, may be a sign of the times I was reading it in. I think I will come back to this and reread all or part of it for the folk stories about the Hag, the bhulbae, and the changeling. Emer Martin is one to watch....more
Damn, these stories were haunting and beautiful. The characters had so much depth in just a few pages, and the language was sumptuous. They are set inDamn, these stories were haunting and beautiful. The characters had so much depth in just a few pages, and the language was sumptuous. They are set in a post-crash Ireland that is at times very bleak, but also beautiful. My favorites were: "The Art of Foot-binding," "All About Alice," "Along the Heron-studded River," "A Different Country," and "The Smell of Dead Flowers". I bought one copy to leave in Ireland when I went this summer, and another copy to re-read in the States. ...more
There are a few beautiful stories in here dealing with women, longing, and sexuality in Ireland. My favorites were: Camoflage, Pinkeens (amazing), Le There are a few beautiful stories in here dealing with women, longing, and sexuality in Ireland. My favorites were: Camoflage, Pinkeens (amazing), Le Soliel et le Vent, and Majella's Quilt. I was hoping the stories would have more folklore in them since Bourke is known as a folklorist, but with the exception of "Deep Down" there wasn't very much. I enjoyed the sequence of stories about Una and the two about Eithne - it seemed there could have been a separate book about Una written....more
Some of these stories were fantastic, and I loved the illustrations. Sometimes the fairy tale indicated in the table of contents corresponded well witSome of these stories were fantastic, and I loved the illustrations. Sometimes the fairy tale indicated in the table of contents corresponded well with the tale here, and other times it didn't really. I would have liked some more closure in a few of the stories. I'll be coming back to these, pairing a few with Emma Donoghue's Kissing the Witch stories, and teaching them....more
This is the best book of poetry I have read in ages. Ní Dhomhnaill writes from the conceit of a tribe of mermaids who evolve and adapt to living on laThis is the best book of poetry I have read in ages. Ní Dhomhnaill writes from the conceit of a tribe of mermaids who evolve and adapt to living on land, and the trauma that that entails. Every poem was beautiful and full of deep imagery and hidden corners in both the Irish and the English that I'd like to investigate. And as a book, it holds together so well. I thought the inclusion of Part one was strange (the few poems that are not mermaid poems) - I think she should have cut those out and saved them for her next book for unity. I borrowed this from a library but I'm going to buy my own copy now....more
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