Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book from Betimes Books via Netgalley, free of charge, for review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own
***ARGH the 'new and improved' blogger lost my review update- imagine that, so this is updated with review **
Keeping things among Irish family...
Synopsis
Rural Ireland in the late 1980s and, stuck in a rut in a small unnamed village, are sixteen-year-old cousins Laura and Kevin. The close cousins and constant companions ache to abscond to somewhere bigger, better, more exciting, where they are free to do what they want to do, free to become who they really are.
But things are holding them back. As well as having to cope with family tragedies, the troubled, music-obsessed teens must also negotiate the tricky terrain of burgeoning sexuality, the pitfalls of adolescence, and issues of homosexuality that seem, confusingly, to impinge upon them.
And then there is Laura’s own serious affliction, epilepsy, which comes and goes when she least expects it. Only cousin Kevin knows how to handle this tricky situation, or handle her: with gentleness, with sympathy, and with maybe just a little too much in the way of love and affection.
The months and the spiraling family crises serve only to bring them closer together: but how close is too close?
And then there is the strange matter of the nearby pond: this small body of water keeps drawing them near. Laura is convinced that something lurks down there, but Kevin eschews, putting it all down to the psychological trauma she is going through. Are they prepared for whatever secrets might come bubbling to the surface, monsters real or imagined that could come rising from the depths?
Colin O’Sullivan returns to a familiar (and formative) Irish setting with this punchy novel that grows in pace page by page. 1980s references abound, not only with music giants of the time, Boy George, Madonna et al, but also the politics of Gorbachev and Reagan, literal and figurative walls that are about to be torn down and imminent societal changes. Although rooted in the past, this fraught and frantic work is startlingly relevant and makes us consider today’s current affairs.
Review:
This one is a bit dark- brooding might be the best word. You know from the first chapter life is not going to be all lollipops and rainbows for Laura and Kevin, and so when bad things happen, you aren't surprised, BUT....it's the depth of things with our modern take, that make us gasp and scream at the characters to NOT do the things they are about to do, and then when it gets really really bad, you're actually surprised at the characters, and their strength and resolve. It's a tale of assumptions and bad decisions, and one that will stay with you for awhile!
About the AUthor:
Colin O'Sullivan was born in Killarney, Ireland, in 1974. He is the author of Killarney Blues, Winner of the Prix Mystère de la critique, a prestigious crime fiction award in France.
His other works of fiction include The Starved Lover Sings, which was published in Russian to great acclaim, and his third novel The Dark Manual is to be made into a TV series.
All his novels in English are published by Betimes Books.
He lives in Aomori, Japan.
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