I am not sure why I selected this book. There are quotes by Miranda Cowley Heller and Yale van der Wouden, two authors I like, so maybe that was why?
Here’s the blurb …
An extraordinarily moving and expansive debut novel that follows three generations of women from New York to rural Ireland and back again.
It is late September in 2001 and the walls of New York are papered over with photos of the missing. Cora Brady’s father is there, the poster she made taped to columns and bridges. Her mother died long ago and now, orphaned on the cusp of adulthood, Cora is adrift and alone. Soon, a letter will arrive with the offer of a new life: far out on the ragged edge of Ireland, in the town where her parents were young, an estranged aunt can provide a home and fulfil a long-forgotten promise. There the story of her family is hidden, and in her presence will begin to unspool…
An essential, immersive debut from an astonishing new voice, Confessions traces the arc of three generations of women as they experience in their own time the irresistible gravity of the past: its love and tragedy, its mystery and redemption, and, in all things intended and accidental, the beauty and terrible shade of the things we do.
This is a female driven narrative told from several points of view. Probably my favourite type of novel. Mostly it is first person, but there is a second person section and an epistolary section – so interesting structurally. Time is not linear either – it moves forwards and backwards, depending on whose perspective we have. It touches on events in the wider world – 9/11, the abortion debate in Ireland, and gay marriage, but mostly it is about relationships – female relationships, sisters, friends, lovers, mothers, etc. The story unfolds gradually, I feel that the author trusts that the reader will understand and appreciate the subtlety and the nuance.
A superb debut! I look forward to reading more of her work.
A review.