Summer sizzles on, but books can take you somewhere cool
The summer sizzles on, we’ve never had to use so much sunscreen, the temperatures are off the charts, and oh, for the cool breeze of a crisp autumn morning! But there’s always books to be read and sure what else can you do in the heat? A story or two can transport us wherever we’d like to be… in this reader’s case the north pole!
Few and Far Between, Jan Carson, Doubleday, €18.95
The Ark is the nickname for the archipelago of inhabited islands of Lough Neagh in Carson’s latest novel full of magical realism, and hard realism too. There are communities that have lived through the years of the troubles in Northern Ireland on those Lough Neagh islands, living in a kind of seventh county of the north. The idea was to build a utopia on the basin of the drained lake, away from Belfast and Derry and Stormont and all the violence and unrest. But it’s now 2017 and plans are afoot to re-flood the lake, leaving the residents to either return to the mainland or drown. It’s all symbolic, of course. This whole delight of a novel is as rich in symbolism as the Old Testament, but it’s much more fun. Carson scores a winner again with this modern-day parable and has much to say about strife-scarred communities.
Devotions, Lucy Caldwell, Faber, €16.99
Like Jan Carson, Lucy Caldwell is a much-decorated writer from Northern Ireland, and these eight short stories are gems. Caldwell examines themes of family and belonging here, admittedly themes she has examined before, but really, what else is there beyond human connection, or the lack thereof? In All Grown Up, divorced Luke returns to his family home after the death of his mother, intent on clearing out the house and selling it. But memory and alcohol and a poorly-judged one night stand with his ex-sister-in-law leave him frayed. The Lady of the House is like a classic ghost story set in a lodge house attached to a castle, the subject of a curse since the 17th century. A Family Christmas has a wife wondering if her husband has stopped taking his meds and realising that she might be pregnant. In Hamlet, A Love Story, the protagonist reviews her life with her now dead husband and wonders if the choices they made were the right ones. And indeed, much of the storytelling here is about choices made or evaded and the consequences they bring. It’s been hailed as an exceptional anthology, and I’d agree.
Homebound, Portia Elan, Chatto and Windus, €17.99
The novel opens in 1983 and introduces Becks, who is 19 and loves computers and everything to do with them. They make her feel sure-footed and invisible, which is her comfort zone. She her uncle programme a computer game, the Homebound of the title. And then her uncle dies, leaving Becks to finish constructing the game. And the game will play a part in a seafaring story 600 years in the future. It has been described as a novel akin to Cloud Atlas, spanning centuries and cultures but with a single mystery at its heart. Coding and gaming and even robots called Ayes are the instruments of this novel, but at its heart is the interconnectedness of humanity, across time and continents and oceans. A sweeping epic of a novel and a surprising treat.
Worth a Shot, Amy Ewing, Eriu, €10.99,
Cordelia is a New Yorker with a promising past behind her. She was once a celebrated photographer with a huge following and hosting her own exhibitions, but her father’s death unravels her and takes away her creative spark. She spots a house-sitting ad for a cottage on Inishmore and figures what the hell. She’ll apply to take it. Maybe it’s the jump-start she needs. Arriving on the island, a stranger bumps into her and sends her camera – and her hopes – flying. The stranger is Niall O’Connor, who has returned to the island now that his chef’s career is in tatters. He’s upended and seething. And so is Cordelia. And you know the rest! This is a holiday romance set in the west of Ireland, but Ewing is careful not to dollop the story too heavily with Oirishness, which would have ruined it. A perfect light read for the sunshine.
Curses, Keys and Secret Societies, Breanne Randall, Head of Zeus, €11.99
Elea returns to her home in the French countryside after being away for four years, and finds it has been turned into an elite academy for witches and dark magic. The academy is being run by her ruthless father, who has an agenda of his own. No stranger to magic, Elea realises she has to use hers against her father if she is to save her home and even herself. She may or may not enlist the help of her new love interest, Logan. This book is the second in a series by the author who writes fantasy and dark academia and if this is your bag, you’ll be delighted.
First Summer, Erin Oklap, Summit Books, €19.95
A coming-of-age queer romance, this story is set in the lazy, hazy days we’re immersed in at the moment, full of languid heat and liquid sunshine. One quiet afternoon the unnamed narrator notices Clara moving in across the road. Sixteen years old and bored, the narrator befriends Clara and their relationship moves beyond close friendship. In a sub plot, Nadia the space explorer, a character that both girls loved from childhood books, continues to travel in space with her partner Rosa. And through Nadia’s story, our narrator begins to make sense of her new, strange feelings. Tenderly told, it’s much like Douglas Stuart’s Shuggy Bain, but with less poverty and violence.
Footnotes
In Belfast, both Féile an Pobail and the Belfast Tradfest run from this weekend, Friday 25th and Saturday 26th respectively. Féile an Pobail transforms West Belfast with over two weeks of music, comedy, debates, tours, theatre, workshops, sport and cultural events. See feilebelfast.com for details.
Belfast Tradfest, held twice a year, features some of our best trad musicians and this edition features weekend workshops alongside a full programme of concerts, talks, lectures, sessions, céilís and a festival club. See belfasttraditionalmusic.com for details.