Booklist Reviews
Irish writer Murrin's debut novel offers a page-turning portrait of life in Donegal—often called the "forgotten county." It is 1995, and Ireland is on the verge of overturning a ban on divorce. Poet Colette Crowley has returned to town after leaving her comfortable marriage for another man. She rents a cottage, tries to earn money by holding writing workshops, and regrets her irreversible ruin. Not one to shy away from making controversial friends is Izzy, a politician's wife with provincial taste but a sharp wit. There's also Dolores, young wife to a philandering husband, whose fourth pregnancy makes her feel more trapped than ever, and Ann, a waitress in love with Colette's jilted husband. Throughout, Murrin dangles the mystery of a house fire alluded to early on, yet the true center is the question of a woman's agency. What value does life hold when the state bars so many choices? Through these women, Murrin explores a fascinating community on the verge of liberating change. Copyright 2024 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
Debuter Murrin mines the rocky path women walked in Ireland in the '90s when divorce was illegal. Colette Crowley has an affair, and her husband denies her access to her children. Neighbor Izzy Keaveney offers help—with consequences for all. With a 150K-copy first printing and TV rights optioned. Prepub Alert. Copyright 2023 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal.Publishers Weekly Reviews
Murrin's smashing debut follows two unhappily married women in a small town in Ireland as they test the bounds of independence. In 1994, Izzy Keaveney heads to mass after a night spent fighting with her husband, James, over his refusal to support her wish to reopen her flower shop, which she ran until the birth of their first child, who's now a teen. At church, she encounters poet Colette Crowley, who has recently returned from Dublin and whose husband, Shaun, has banned her from seeing their three sons ever since she had an affair and announced she was leaving him some months earlier. When Colette starts a writing workshop in town, Izzy enrolls, and after class one evening, she agrees to help Colette secretly meet with one of her sons. After Shaun learns what Colette's up to, he forbids her from making a promised Christmas visit, pleads with James to put a stop to Izzy's meddling, and intimates to him that Izzy is having an affair with the new parish priest. Heartbroken, Colette drinks heavily and stumbles into an affair with her married landlord, whose wife is pregnant; meanwhile, Izzy considers separating from James. Each of the characters is vividly rendered, and Murrin excels at portraying the rippling consequences of small-town gossip and intolerance. This is a marvel.