Lemass book based on more than 20 hours of interviews after his retirement

This week there’s fiction, history, current affairs and some dodgy dance steps.

Sweep the Cobwebs Off the Sky, Mary O’Donnell, Epoque, €15.99

One could write a book about this book and still probably miss something. That’s how imbued with human experience this small but mighty novel is, carrying itself lightly but weighed down with the poundage of family and social history, duty and obligation and even love itself. It’s the spring of 2020, Covid days. The country and the world are locked down. Frankie has left her home and husband in Tipperary and travelled to Monaghan to mind her 92-year-old mother Elma, suffering with dementia and by turns charming and frustrating.

Frankie’s younger sister Tess has made it on one of the last flights out of New York, but she stops off in Clare, delaying the journey home to Monaghan. Tess has never been too worried about Elma’s welfare and when she finally arrives, sparks fly. But Tess’s seeming lack of concern is justified, it is revealed, as the story takes many backward glances to the ‘60s and ‘70s when both sisters were children and Elma, with her doctor husband Paddy, ruled the roost.

For those of us who aren’t young, this book will jolt memories; corporal punishment in school and at home. Women forced out of the workplace by marriage, women forced into adoption procedures without marriage, the whole steaming pile of mid- and late-20th century Ireland is packed into this short work in a sweeping series of genius strokes. And behind it all, there’s quiet rural Monaghan, her stoney grey soil, the lilt of her drumlins and the mirrors in her lakes. ‘Quietly devastating’ is a description used too often, about novels nowhere near the stature of this one. But this one deserves it.

Seán Lemass: The Lost Memoir, Ed. Ronan McGreevy, Eriu €22

Based on more than 20 hours of interviews of Lemass after his retirement and only revealed in short excerpts in the press in 2018, this is quite the scoop for Irish Times journalist and author McGreevy. As a youngster, Lemass was involved in the 1916 Rising but through his maturing as a person and a public official, he softened his attitudes to the UK and indeed to most things, including Irishmen who fought in the World Wars for Britain. Lemass didn’t leave papers or an autobiography, so this is the nearest thing to a personal insight into ‘the Father of Modern Ireland’.

As Lemass’s career progressed, his esteem for the Great God De Valera seems to have slipped, although that is not something he expressed in the public arena. His often frustrating dealings with Britain, when joining the EU was being proposed, are typical of his character. Lemass wanted to things to happen in real time and not – as is the model of the current Fianna Fail party – in some mythical, magical time off in the hazy, lazy future, preferably by someone else. It’s an interesting read and will be hoovered up by Irish history fans.

Braver New World, John Kampfner, Atlantic, €17.99

This book is subtitled ‘The Countries Daring to Do Things Others Won’t’ and here Kampfner takes 10 countries who do not have the social problems experienced by most Western countries because they take action sooner rather than later to avoid pressing issues like healthcare, housing and a host of others. The regions and countries Kampfner focuses on include Japan, Canada, Austria, Finland, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Morocco, India and Estonia.

While most of the world’s democracies are looking inward in paralysed fear at the state of things, others are more progressive. Japan’s inter-generational care homes that promote dignity for all are a good example of what should happen when we get old. Vienna’s population lives in over 60% social housing, and there is no stigma attached; in fact community relations are excellent. Taiwan has a healthcare system that boasts a 90% customer satisfaction rate and yet is run on a tiny fraction of the cost of the systems in European countries. What’s being done abroad that we should be doing here, in the UK and elsewhere? This is an optimistic book, a book of hope and maybe the odd TD should read it.

Dirty Dancing, Ellen Coyne, Gill, €19.99

The subtitle here is ‘The Inside Story of the Irish Dancing Scandal’. Coyne takes a deep dive into the rhinestoned, fake tanned, ringlety world of Irish dancing, beginning at the all-Ireland championships in Kerry, which always precede the world championships by about two months. But the competitions are rigged and there’s a lot more going on besides that. The scandal that broke in 2022 is covered comprehensively in Coyne’s book and it’s an eye-opener. In her own words in the introduction, she writes: ‘This is a story about how those who become obsessed with winners will almost always emerge as the losers. And none of them are dancing on stage.’ Her investigation into Irish dancing began as a result of an anonymous email that landed in her inbox. She comments that most emails of that nature make allegations that turn out to be untrue. But this email sparked an investigation by Coyne that was to become this book. It’s all, sadly, true. And it’s scandalous.

The Sisterhood Rules, Kathy Lette, Head of Zeus, €17.99

Twin sisters Verity and Isabel have been estranged since one had an affair with the other’s husband. Now their mother, almost 70 and a renowned musician, has gone missing. So, the sisters put aside their differences to find their mother. And they do find her. In the arms of a much younger man. Which is odd because Mommy Dearest had, for the previous three years, been involved in a lesbian relationship. This young fella is obviously a gold-digger and given his lover’s age, he’s intent on being the recipient of a fat inheritance. How can the sisters convince their mother that she’s making a dreadful mistake? Fans of Marian Keyes, Dawn French and Jane Fallon will love this breezy comic novel.

Footnotes

Europe’s largest health, fitness and wellness festival takes place this weekend, May 9 and 10, in the grounds of IMMA at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin. If you’re interested see wellfest.ie for details.