Welcome to Litsy!

Beautifully written, a light touch that nonetheless brings the pain and fear of Northern Ireland at the peak of the troubles to life. Cushla is not an easy to like protagonist but her challenges, her ambiguous relationship with her religion, her deep care for her student soften off the edges of some of her poorer decisions. Would be a five star read but for the fact I was a bit icked out by the ‘great love story‘ which felt v unhealthy to me

Eeeewwwwwww 🥴

Cushla, a young Catholic woman, starts a relationship with an older married Protestant man during the Troubles in Ireland. Although they don‘t live in the heart of the violence, the relationship is not without danger and a series of seemingly unrelated events creates chaos. I found this a fascinating lens with which to look at how the Troubles and the prejudice affected everyone during the period, even those not in Belfast.

This was darkly funny with a great pace. It was distressing how many of the narrator‘s many neuroses I found completely reasonable 😂 If I can get my hands on another volume in the series, I will read it.

Sad but true.
#GodIsNotGreat #ChristopherHitchens #ireland #sectarianism #catholic #protestant #religion #atheism #belfast

I enjoyed going back to 1970‘s Northern Ireland, a time & place I don‘t read about often. Cushla is a teacher by day and a bar maid at her family‘s pub in the evenings, living a quiet life with her alcoholic mom when she meets Michael. A secret affair begins…

14-26 Nov 2023
Belfast 1975. A young Catholic school teacher who works shifts in her family pub embarks on an affair with a married, middle aged and Protestant barrister. It is intimated at the outset that he becomes another victim of the Troubles.
All of which might make it seem this book is predictable and routine. But somehow it is not. The writing is wonderful and Cushla is a flawed but fully rendered protagonist, as are many other characters.

#two4tuesday Thanks for the tag ? @The_Penniless_Author
Great questions @TheSpineView ?

1) I asked a friend. His answers (that weren't insulting) were, "my transcendence of standard book appreciation", "appreciation of artwork on the outer edge of paper", "will turn up to a date in a Doom hoodie", and I "use my own invented language."

2) The Sisters Brothers (DeWitt), Convenience Store Woman (Murata), Bunny (Awad), and Mystery Man (Bateman).

Just starting to really enjoy this when I found my hardcover version goes from page 54 back to 23! (It then proceeds to page 54 again before skipping to 87). Has this happened to others? Very tempted to keep reading or to start the audio but am going to try to be patient and start something else whilst waiting the 5+ weeks for the bookseller to send another version.