3.5 Stars
Though the bus crash and the rescue efforts bring together the main characters, the novel does not actually focus on these events. Instead, we are given the individual backstories of the five characters. Tim and Nina lost their daughter Aisling just before her first birthday and their marriage fell apart afterwards. Richie has just placed his mother who is suffering from Alzheimer’s in a care facility. Alina, a Muslim immigrant from Lebanon, has to contend with an overbearing, Catholic mother-in-law. Lucy, drifting through life and between unsatisfactory relationships, has just moved back in with her difficult mother. Each person seems to be on the edge, trying to get free from an unhappy life and move on.
The novel examines a number of issues. One theme is the loss of a child: Nina and Tim are grieving the death of their daughter but are trying to cope in very different ways. Another theme is religious intolerance. When Alina, a Muslim, is freed from the bus, rumours begin that she may in fact have been responsible for the accident. One of the parents of a trapped victim tells Nina, “’That woman that got out? That Muslim and her so-called miraculous escape? That’s what you should be looking into . . . Terrorism in your own back yard . . . ‘” The topic of immigration is explored: Alina thinks that “Ireland’s welcome no longer the great warmth [her father] remembered, but a thin thing, with the air of having its patience tried by overuse.” The reasons for homelessness are mentioned: “What differentiated the person led straight off the edge of the cliff from the person who veered harmlessly along the grassy verge?” The plight of those suffering mental illness is addressed, “the poor souls released to the community when the old psychiatric hospital in the city closed down. They were given six months’ warning before being sent out into the world with neither skills nor motivation for anything but the rhythm of walking. For putting their lives down one step at a time.” These people are avoided and ignored; “There was a whole layer of people living in a parallel world, invisibility the tax they paid on whatever circumstances had led them out of their lives.”
A problem with the book is that it tries to touch on too many subjects. Besides what I’ve already mentioned, identity and belonging, parent-child relationships, relationships post-divorce, and racism are themes explored. I kept thinking there should be more focus on one or two main ideas. Maybe having fewer perspectives would have helped to add cohesiveness.
The language is wonderful. As most of the above quotations indicate, the style is lyrical. And there are some wonderful images; I especially loved a man’s actions being described as having “all the intensity of his mam when she was waiting on the last bingo number for a full house.” Life after giving birth to a child is described as the mother being both consumed and renewed: “Your old life, your old self, pushed out with the afterbirth, like being in a witness protection programme, your old identity no longer available, a new one all ready and waiting for you to step into. Relearning the world together.”
Sadness pervades. At times it was almost overwhelming. A mother’s grief after the death of a child is exquisitely described: “In labour, with each contraction your heart expanded to accommodate your daughter. Shed like excess weight, your heart was left with folds that hang empty, too big for the little that was left behind.” Reading was almost painful, perhaps exacerbated by the fact that I recently read another novel, coincidently by another Irish female writer, which also explored grief at the loss of a child.
Readers looking for an action-packed read should look elsewhere. This is a slow-paced novel where the conflicts are interior ones. Though a bit unfocused and in need of tightening, this debut book suggests Gráinne Murphy is a promising writer. I will certainly be looking out for her future work.
Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher.
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