4 Stars
The novel is set in Killybegs, Ireland’s largest fishing port, in County Donegal. In 1973, an infant is found on the beach and is eventually adopted by Ambrose and Christine Bonnar who already have a two-year-old son named Declan. They name the boy Brendan. The novel covers approximately 18 years, telling the story of the Bonnar family: Ambrose’s struggles to provide for his family as a fisherman, Christine’s contentious relationship with her sister Phyllis, Declan’s bitter jealousy of Brendan, and Brendan’s always feeling like an outsider. We also learn about life in the community.
Point of view is especially interesting. The omniscient narrator, using the first person plural, is the townspeople. The effect is that of a Greek chorus. The reactions of the townspeople to events are documented. As seasons pass, a summary of the fates of others outside the Bonnar family is included: “The season turned. The vocational school had its first public exams and the students did well. The Ros Finn went up on rocks and two of the crew were treated for hypothermia. Johnny the Matchbox won good money on the sweepstakes and we all despaired as he was sure to waste it.”
This narrative approach suggests a story told over a Guinness in an Irish pub. The reader is addressed as someone familiar with the townspeople: “[Pat Ward] wasn’t belonging to the coal dealer Wards, but the Straoughter Wards, the ones with the freckly faces.” What emerges is a real sense of a real place.
Certainly the portrayal of life in a small town is conveyed accurately. Everyone knows everyone’s business and gossip spreads quickly. But there is also support for each other; when tragedy strikes, the entire community shows up to help. What is also shown is the challenges faced by a tight-knit community in a changing world: people leaving the town to find work elsewhere.
Changes in the fishing industry are described. Ambrose is a skilled fisherman with a deep connection to the sea. At first he does well but then he faces competition from larger and larger trawlers. Fishing becomes an increasingly commercialized industry and the ocean is viewed “like it was a factory floor”; near the end of the book, there is reference to dwindling stocks.
The novel also examines other subjects. Sibling relationships are explored: there’s Declan’s unwillingness to accept Brendan as his brother and their intense competition for their father’s love and attention. Both boys make decisions based on rivalry. Christine and Phyllis are close and need each other but disagreements arise: Phyllis feels trapped because she has to care for her father and she objects to Brendan’s adoption so there are clashes and times when the sisters don’t speak to each other.
Another topic that stands out for me is men’s lack of self-reflection and their inability to articulate their feelings: Ambrose belongs to “a lineage of quiet men, each contained to the point of self-repression, generation after generation of horizonwatchers, preferring to look out at a wordless intensity than have even a second of introspection.” The reader is told that “Ambrose had all the language required to define precisely the meaning of a cloud, the character of a sea, an attitude of rain, but to describe his own emotional weather he was limited to ‘Been better,’ ‘Been worse’ and ‘You know yourself.’” Love is seldom expressed; when Declan states he’d love to try a certain fishing ground, Ambrose thinks, “Love was a strong word, everyone listened with interest.” Ambrose leaves for a fishing trip by kissing Christine on the cheek and saying “’Mind yourself.’” One particular description is so fitting: “Donegal men had strikingly big key fobs, we tended to have many padlocks in our lives.”
Despite the novel’s seriousness, there are sprinkles of gentle humour: “If there was a trophy for not mentioning things Tommy would’ve won it, then kept it at the back of his wardrobe and never mentioned it.” A member of Ambrose’s crew complains about his wife wanting an extension built on their home: “’And I don’t even want another room, I’m happy enough to go sit in the car when we’ve a row.’” Phyllis and Christine discuss how it would be better to die than to survive a nuclear bomb: “’but they’ll have no reason to drop a bomb here. Donegal will be ignored again.’”
Some readers might object to the sometimes meandering plot, but I loved the book. Its portrayal of life in a small community is so authentic; I definitely saw my family and childhood reflected in the book and I think many readers will as well.
Note: I received an eARC from the publisher via NetGalley.
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