'Reflects uncertainty of a people who simply do not belong'
This week there’s gritty social drama, crime, a court case, adult fantasy and a murderous elderly nun.
Contentious Spaces, Rosaleen McDonagh, Skein Press, €12.99
Playwright, essayist, performer and proud member of the Traveller community, Rosaleen McDonagh has produced her first novel and it’s a story of love, loss, grief and defiance. The story opens in Manhattan, with Gerard, an Irish immigrant who works in a hotel kitchen, unwilling to meet his girlfriend’s parents. Because he knows from whence he came, and girlfriend Andrea does not. Then time reels back to 2011, to a halting site in Dublin, and the aftermath of Charlene Ward’s suicide. As the community on the site reels from the news, there’s further news that the local council will soon be dismantling the site, and those who live there have nowhere else to go.
Strands of different lives from the Pavee community are interwoven in this fine novel and give us ‘settled’ folk a look at what it’s like to live in Ireland – to live anywhere, in fact – as a member of the much-scorned Travelling community, and of how our indifference, or worse, affects their lives. The novel ends with uncertainty and reflects the uncertainty of a people who simply do not belong. It’s a recommended read for us all.
All Them Dogs, Djamel White, John Murray, €16.99
Ward returns to the Dublin gangland he left behind five years ago. He’s been lying low in the UK but now it’s time to return to his home city and get ‘working’ again. His old boss is dead and his new one, Aengus Lavelle, is the new top dog, a guy with tentacles in every drugs chain in the country, and one who rules with the predictable force of an Irish kingpin. Ward is teamed up with Darren ‘Flute’ Walsh, one of Lavelle’s sidekicks and an extremely unstable and volatile character. Ward is also volatile, and sparks fly from the get-go. The story has a fitting ending. When Ward’s brother, a graduate, returns from Berlin, the reader is given a glimpse of an alternative path Ward could have taken, but chose not to. If you’re a fan of gritty urban drama like Top Boy and if you liked Trainspotting, then you’ll hoover this novel up.
Tell the Truth, Karen Fitzgibbon, Poolbeg, €16.99
The story opens with Marion McMahon running for her life from her abusive husband, Tadhg McMahon. And as she flees with her thug of a husband hot on her heels, he’s fatally hit from behind, and not by her. Then Marion is running from her husband’s killer. Reel forward in time to the court case of the state versus Marion McMahon for the murder of her husband, and Stephanie Fitzgerald, who has been called for jury service on the case. The case seems open and shut but the reader knows from the get-go that Marion didn’t kill her husband. And while Marion has insisted all along that she’s not guilty, her defence is convinced she’s hiding something and hires PI Lana Bowen to investigate the case. Marion is indeed hiding something and it’s up to Lana to find out what. And, more significantly, why.
Part courtroom drama, part blossoming illicit romance between two jurors, and full-on murder mystery, this is a page-turner. Think Twelve Angry Men run riot, and a private investigator with problems of her own, and you’ll get an idea of the flavour of this fast-paced thriller with a shocking twist.
West of Wicked, Nikki St Crowe, Bramble, €17.99
The poor Wizard of Oz is never going to be laid to rest and here comes yet another story with its roots in the Yellow Brick Road. In this novel, Dorothy is catapulted from her home in Kansas during a cyclone and lands in Oz with no memory of where she has come from, or why she has landed in this strange place. And then the story branches off into a different thread. Dorothy encounters a badly beaten man tied to a pole in the middle of a field. His name is Rook and he eventually joins Dorothy on her travels. He is, Dorothy thinks, a handsome divil. And when they encounter the evil Tinman with his axe, well… sparks fly. It occurs to Dorothy that Rook has secrets he’s not willing to reveal. And then it occurs to Dorothy that she has the same. It’s in that bestselling genre of ‘romantasy’ that’s doing so well nowadays and this one’s definitely not for children!
Sister Agatha at the Pearly Gates, Domhnall O’Donoghue, Bloodhound Books, €14.99
Navan native Domhnall O’Donoghue’s second Sister Agatha novel is, like the first one, an absolute hoot. Agatha is now 124 years old and is drawing her final breath in the convent. She gets to the Pearly Gates but is in for some disappointment. While there, she is quickly reminded of her four attempted murders, catalogued hilariously in O’Donoghue’s first novel, Sister Agatha: The World’s Oldest Serial Killer. And there are other misdemeanours, like stealing convent money and getting plastered on airplanes. The only way she can atone for her sins is to return to her deathbed, not die, and travel the world searching for the outstanding achievements of some unsung heroes. The prospect doesn’t exactly appeal to Sr Agatha, as she’s a bit knackered. Anyone who’s 124 years of age would be a bit knackered. But return to earth she must. And find worthy souls she must, which will involve a lot more travelling across the globe but it’s going to prove difficult; age is not on her side. But since the alternative is the fiery pit of hell, she reluctantly returns. It’s a funny novel and would make a great mini-series. Sister Agatha deserves to hit our screens.
Footnotes
The Cat Laughs Comedy Festival takes place next weekend in Kilkenny, from May 29 to June 1. Full details on thecatlaughs.com. The Night and Day Festival also takes place next weekend at Lough Key Forest Park in Boyle. See nightandday.ie for more information.