I purchased this book for my own personal collection.
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Published: November 1, 2022
Summary:
Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.
Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast. By day she teaches at a parochial school; at night she fills in at her family’s pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a barrister who’s made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment – Michael is not only Protestant but older, and married – Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.
As tender as it is unflinching, Trespasses is a heart-pounding, heart-rending drama of thwarted love and irreconcilable loyalties, in a place what you come from seems to count more than what you do, or whom you cherish.
My thoughts:
I haven’t read too many books set during the Troubles, but when I heard this book was long-listed for 2023 Women’s Prize for Fiction, I knew I wanted to read it. And I’m so glad I did…I absolutely loved this one…so much so that I decided to select it for my book club and we will be discussing it tomorrow night!
I fully admit that I don’t know too much about the Troubles but I am so intrigued by any books set when all this was going on. I have read one book that dealt with this – Flynn Berry’s Northern Spy, which I really enjoyed – and I have another one, sitting on my shelf just waiting to be read, Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, which I really want to read sooner rather than later.
But back to this book. This is a beautifully written, heart-breaking story that really got under my skin. It is so incredibly powerful in all that it attempts to do. This is not an easy read in any way – it is uncomfortable, unsettling and dark – and yet the writing is completely evocative and consuming once you start reading it. As hard as it was to be a witness to what was going on, I also needed to keep reading to see things to the end. While the main focus is on a love story between Cushla, who is Catholic, and Michael, who is Protestant and married, there is so much more to this book. It also takes a hard look at how violence has an impact on children, and what that does to them. The storyline involving Little Davy really got to me, perhaps because I was a teacher myself and could see me making choices not that different from what Cushla did.
This is a very character-driven story and I loved every second of it. I also loved how well the author was able to set the time and place. The effects of the conflict were so vividly drawn and quite palpable. That sense of fear that some people had and lived with on a daily basis really came out in the scenes – people having to check under their cars each morning to make sure bomb hadn’t been placed there overnight – it’s scenes like that, so skillfully written that make it all real.
I loved this book. I realize it might not be for everyone, but I am glad I read it and I am looking forward to discussing it with my bookclub tomorrow night. If you have read it, what are your thoughts on it?
