Books

I can’t imagine traveling without some book to read. On this trip I stepped into Dubray Bookstore in the Galway Latin Quarter, and found two that have been excellent company, whether waiting for the bus or lounging after a long walk. This bookstore had a whole section of Irish authors and I selected Prophet Song by Paul Lynch. I found the latest book, Free Love by Tessa Hadley, a writer I only discovered in the last year after hearing her New Yorker interview while knitting.

Free Love captures the vibrancy and fearsomeness of 1960s London when a suburban wife, mother of two, abandons them and her husband to have an affair. The ripple effects of her decision detonate the family and causes them to define and redefine who they are in this moment. I couldn’t help being drawn into the characters and the setting. Hadley is such a masterful writer she even had me feeling empathy for a mother who abandons her children, not an easy task.

I started the Prophet Song in the evening before bed and had to stop and only read it during day light hours. This is easy as in Ireland the sun rises before 5am and sets after 10pm. His book received lots of attention when he won The Booker Prize and was interviewed and written about extensively. It was often described as dystopian, and I wasn’t interested in this genre, but he is the Irish writer of the moment so I had to reconsider. It is a study of a society dealing with war. Here is another story of a mother, Eilish, who has the most daunting task before her: keep her family together amidst a civil war in contemporary Dublin. Lynch details the psychological impact of a society coming apart through the eyes of the mother, her children, aging father, and a sister who lives safely in Canada. There are no chapters or traditional dialogue conventions which annoyed many reviewers, but I found these techniques or decisions on how to structure the story effective. I couldn’t separate myself from the story until I finished it.

Books are excellent travel companions.