Tragic and triumphant
Ireland's “troubles” don't include only sectarian issues; more and more in literature and popular culture, the term targets errant clergy and church hypocrisy. The author eviscerated such topics in A History of Loneliness and returns to them in this new battle of the Boyne.
It starts just after World War II as a village priest names, shames and literally kicks out a pregnant 16- year- old. Gutsy Catherine refuses to crumble and heads for Dublin where Cyril is born.
His life during the next 70 years is the fabric of the novel. Cyril isn't just illegitimate; he's also gay ( no awards for guessing how mid- 20th century Catholicism treats that issue) so his life is doubly damaged.
A hunchbacked nun has him adopted by two literary eccentrics. He begins a friendship with glittering, dangerous Julian, which sustains and imperils him during the following half- century. A cavalcade of fictional and historic characters ( The Beatles; brilliant, boozy playwright Brendan Behan) trek by, as do invented and documented events. The IRA blows up Nelson's column in Dublin and Aids begins its ravages.
Boyne spares neither clergy nor country. An archbishop can't understand why a young woman wants a career; a church official rants with “spittle dribbling down his mouth and chin”. They're typical of “a backward hole of a country run by vicious, evil- minded, sadistic priests and a government . . . led around on a leash.” Wow.
Yet it’s also a story glinting with wonderfully subversive humour. A man charged with indecent exposure is freed after the complainant turns out to be a Protestant; a passionate kissing scene has one participant watching Perry Mason on TV. Through a narrative of seven- year steps, gloriously disaster- prone Cyril embraces a cause and several lovers; enjoys light in the Netherlands and endures darkness in the USA. His destiny is both tragic and triumphant.
Lovely, lilting cadences and a terrific blend of fury and forgiveness. A big, furious, joyful yell of a book, occasionally cluttered, always affirming.