CONTEMPORARY SARA LAWRENCE
NIGHT SWIMMERS by Roisin Maguire
(Serpent’s Tail €21, 304pp) FIFTY-YEAR-OLD loner Grace hasn’t left Ballybrady, a tiny coastal village in Northern Ireland, since she had an awful trip to London in the 1980s. Evan is mourning the death of his baby daughter and is desperate to reconnect with the wife who has begged him for space. He plans to stay a week in Ballybrady in a rented cottage, but gets trapped by lockdown after a few days. When Grace saves Evan from drowning in a kayaking accident, the awkward pair start to bond.
Then Luca, Evan’s nine-year old son, arrives to spend lockdown with his dad. Luca is deaf and also withdrawn, troubled by what’s happening to his parents. Grace’s no-nonsense, unsentimental ways strike a chord with Luca and the unlikely trio begin spending a lot of time together. The more they do so, the less painful their wounds feel. It’s beautifully written, full of wisdom and wonderful secondary characters. I loved it.
GRETA & VALDIN by Rebecca K Reilly (Hutchinson Heinemann €21, 336pp)
THIS funny, clever, emotionally intelligent novel about queer siblings and flatmates, Greta and Valdin, was a huge hit when first published in the author’s native New Zealand. Reviewers there hailed Reilly as the ‘Kiwi Sally Rooney’ and I can see why.
The central theme is Greta and Valdin’s search for love. It’s a deep dive into their psyches, and the varied perspectives of the chaotic, multi-generational Russian-MaoriCatalonian family they share.
The family are over the top, passionate and heavily involved in each other’s lives — even the minor characters feel authentic.
The narrative, alternating between Valdin’s voice and Greta’s, is very witty, but also moving and full of great one-liners. It’s brilliant on sexuality, racism, family history and what happens after colonisation.
The descriptions of Auckland, where the siblings share an apartment downtown, are so enticing I wanted to visit. I raced through it, willing them on in their alternately hilarious and touching quest.
WINTER ANIMALS by Ashani Lewis (Dialogue Books €27.50, 240pp)
ELEN is 38 and lives in an upscale mountain town in Oregon, a winter sports paradise where local bumper stickers proclaim things like, ‘Your vacation is our life’. Elen finds this relentless positivity from her community a lot of pressure. Then her husband leaves her in the middle of the night. Two months on and she finds everything so unbearable that she can’t stop drinking.
Evicted from her house with all her belongings in the boot of her car, she hooks up with a group of four wealthy, ski-obsessed British students. Despite their privilege, this crew choose to squat in empty rentals at the highend resorts they visit, telling themselves they’re building a utopian community.
The blurb compared it to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History. It’s nothing like it. The plot and characterisation are thin and the ending leaves questions unanswered. Not for me.