MIXED emotions

Mismatched lovers make for interesting stories, says Helen M Walters as she explores a story by Kevin Barry

to imagine a different version of himself, a more confident and warm one, being able to have a relationship with her.

There are some distinctly unromantic elements to the story. Notice how Seamus talks about the physical effects that the idea of having a relationship with Katherine has on him. As he tries to ask her out, he compares it to feeling like a man ‘heading off to be shot’ and their first date has an effect on his bowels that is anything but romantic. The story depicts a proper visceral love rather than a rose-tinted relationship.

Words and their power become an important theme in the story. But the importance of silence is also touched on. Seamus talks about his contact with Katherine being telepathic, they can communicate without words and he attempts to send mental messages to her. He also mentions the rare ‘companionable silence’ as they take a drive, their talk coming in odd spurts, and the fact that on their first evening together they ‘ate in silence’.

But when they do use words they are very significant. Because he is Irish and she is Polish, their use of language differs and sometimes they have to explain to each other what they mean by certain things. While he is still pursuing her, Seamus peruses Katherine’s social media and has to use a translation programme to understand her comments. Later, when they are together, when Katherine talks in her sleep, she does so in Polish and Seamus can’t understand her. So he records her and gets it electronically translated, which might also be considered a bit stalkerish.

Seamus goes from being alone to being with Katherine, but note how he

describes her as someone he ‘can be alone with’ as though he can’t quite shake the idea of aloneness. Most of the problems that develop in the relationship are of his own making. It’s almost as though he can’t accept happiness. He is described as being ‘tormented’ by his own happiness and able to handle anything ‘shy of a happy outcome’. The very depths of his feeling make him sure he will lose it.

Almost inevitably his inability to trust in happiness, or in her, drives Katherine away. Notice how he talks about how his confrontational words cascade out of him when he can’t help but bring up the issue of her talking in her sleep. He can’t fully accept she was talking about him rather than someone else and he struggles to hold back his jealousy and distrust. The situation is summed up in the phrase he ‘refused happiness when it was presented to him’ and so, inevitably, he lost it.

At the end of the story, Seamus’s stalking skills pay off when he tracks Katherine down in Poland. Through his misery at her absence, he believes they have exchanged telepathic messages again and that he must go to her. So he gets on a plane and does just that. Can the reader dare to think there will finally be a happy ending?

Is this love?

Love stories are always popular, but how can you give yours an unusual twist as Kevin Barry has done in The Coast Of Leitrim? Here are some suggestions.

• Opposites attract

Why not try making your characters as different from each other as possible? Maybe one of your characters is a keepfit fanatic and the other is a couch potato. Think about what sort of effect this will have on their relationship. Will the keep-fitter coax their partner off the couch and into a healthier lifestyle? Or maybe the couch dweller will entice the fitness fan to join them for popcorn and back-to-back cookery shows. Perhaps you could have them meet in the middle and settle on a more balanced lifestyle that suits them both.

What if one of your couple is extremely extroverted and one is an introvert? Will this cause friction between them, or will they agree to disagree and have separate and very different social lives. What implications would this have for their relationship, and your story?

You could draw some comic potential from a situation where one of your characters likes playing the clown and the other is much more serious. How long will the serious character put up with practical jokes they hate and constant teasing before they crack? Or maybe you could turn the tables and have the non-prankster unleash a huge hoax on their partner.

What other opposites can you think of, and how will their interaction help you make your story stand out?

• Nobody’s perfect

In the examples above we’ve looked at characters who are very different but potentially equally loveable. But what if you gave one of your characters a huge flaw that makes it difficult for them to be in a relationship at all?

You could make them very jealous. Maybe they are so jealous that they can’t bear their partner to spend time with anyone else or even look at anyone else. Maybe they are so suspicious that they check their partner’s emails and open their letters or even follow them when they go out.

What about a character who is full of anger? Perhaps they are irritable at the slightest thing or fly off the handle at the least provocation. Or maybe they are just low-level seething and sullen all the time. That could really wear down their partner.

Or what about a character who is unrelentingly competitive? Whatever their partner does they have to go one better. They refuse to accept that anyone else they know could be better than them at anything. Maybe they also constantly talk about how wonderful their achievements are.

How would you have your couple deal with these situations and still manage to have a loving relationship with each other?

• Love gone wrong

Another way to add interest to your love story is to throw up some barriers to your couple getting together or staying together. Unrequited love, lost love, illicit affairs and love triangles can all be interesting to explore.

Maybe your main character has set their sights on someone who doesn’t even notice their existence. Maybe they never got over their first-ever love and now no one they meet can ever live up to that person. Or maybe they are torn between two people with their head telling them to go one way and their heart the other.

Perhaps they’ve embarked on an affair with someone they really shouldn’t have and are risking everything. Or maybe they have just found that their partner is cheating on them or has just inexplicably stopped loving them. How will they deal with that?

• Subversion

Another way you can make your story a bit different is by subverting the set pieces you might expect to find in a romance.

Instead of having your characters eyes meet across a crowded room at a glamorous party or other social occasion, maybe have them meeting when they’re up their knees in mud on an ill-timed rainy dog walk or in a hospital waiting room or deserted motorway service station. What’s the least romantic place you can come up with for your couple to meet?

Instead of sharing a romantic meal at a posh restaurant maybe they end up sharing a soggy sandwich, a packet of crisps and a vile cup of coffee from a vending machine. Or maybe they get all dressed up for their first date but end up stuck in the house waiting in for a plumber to turn up because a pipe has burst.

Perhaps they go out to see a romantic film together, but due to misreading the show times or a mix up at the ticket office they end up watching a violent gore-fest or a comedy that’s in questionable taste. By refusing to let anything go to plan for your couple you can really give your story a different feel.

Why not tap into the endless possibilities of love stories? But make sure you always give the reader something that isn’t quite what they were expecting.