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Colin Barrett; Justin Quinn: Michele Forbes
Reviews. Colin Barrett; Justin Quinn: Michele Forbes
Published in Books Ireland, November 2013
By Sue Leonard.
2013 has been a great year for debuts. Whether this is because, with the continuing
recession, cash strapped publishers are forced to become more discerning, I
don’t know, but the variation of style, the originality, and sheer standard of
first books seems to be rising all the time.
Some of this year’s debuts focus on that very recession, and
with great effect. Last year, newcomer Donal Ryan won the Irish Book of the Year
award, along with a Man Booker long-listing, for The Spinning Heart - his look
at post boom Ireland in the back of beyond - and in his debut collection of
short stories, the young Colin Barrett has taken a similar backdrop. But
whereas Ryan’s characters had, for the most part, once been relatively prosperous,
the protagonists of Barrett’s stories, have been rubbing along on the bottom
rung of society.
The stories are all set in the same fictional town. Barrett
sets the scene with the first story, The Clancy Kid.
‘My town is nowhere you have been, but you
know its ilk. A roundabout off a national road, an industrial estate, a
five-screen Cineplex, a century of pubs packed inside the square mile of the
town’s limits. ....Summer evenings, and in the manure-scented pastures of the
satellite parishes the Zen bovines lift their heads to contemplate the V8 howls
of the boy racers tearing through the back lanes.’
These stories, exploring male friendship and, often,
unrequited love, convey the atmosphere of post-boom Ireland quite wonderfully.
With little lucrative employment, the protagonists struggle on as best they
can, seeing no way out. The action takes place in pubs; in clubs, cars fields
and woods.
The stories are both violent, and tender. Although the
protagonists are male; and often feature two friends, it’s the women who
dominate. They are shown as the strong ones, with the tough males in thrall of
them.
In The Clancy Kid the narrator is upset when his part-time girlfriend
becomes engaged to a rival. His friend Tug, a damaged softie, shows his support
by upending the happy couple’s car. Fearing Tug’s unpredictable mood, his
friend realises he’s off his meds. But as the two amble beside the river, Tug’s
mood lifts. When they meet a gang of young children, his humour and compassion
shine through.
Stand Your Skin features Bat, who has stinking clothes and
waist long hair. He works in a garage and is thought of as a tough guy; the
signs are clear from his battle scarred face. Why then, is he a near recluse,
who is reluctant to socialise? This is skilfully revealed.
Some of the stories are shocking. Bait, for example, shows
that violence doesn’t always come from the hand of men. Others are more
ruminative. I loved the closing story, Kindly forget my existence which
featured two middle-aged men in a pub. They are skulking there, in the morning,
because they can’t bring themselves to go to the funeral of a woman they both
loved.
In the centre of this collection, lies, Calm With Horses, a
story so long, that it could qualify as a novella. When Dympna, the town’s drug
dealer, hears that the middle-aged Fannigan has molested his fourteen year old
sister, he calls in his ‘heavy,’ named Arm – an ex boxer to deal with him.
Arm is good at his job, and can dispense violence without,
it appear, any qualms. But he shows great sensitivity with his strange young
son. Women like him, and he shows amazing loyalty to his friends.
Towards the end of this dramatic story, an old woman he is
threatening says, ‘This isn’t you. It’s a path that you’ve ended up on, but it
isn’t you.’ This sentence sums up not just Arm, but many of the characters in
the book. All are victims of circumstance.
I loved these stories, and empathised with every one of the
protagonists. I liked the way they challenge the reader’s prejudices, and leave
them wanting more. The writing is superlative. Every sentence counts. We’ll be hearing a lot more from Colin
Barrett.
If you were brought up on leafy Mount Merrion Avenue in the
forties and fifties; if you had every advantage, in life, and were lucky enough
to fall in love with a beautiful convent girl from Foxrock, you would assume
the future was golden. And so it seemed for Declan Boyle, the hero of the
Prague based Irish poet Justin Quinn’s first novel.
Mount Merrion opens
in 1959, when Declan has been admitted to a new County Hospital on the West
Coast, suffering from a lung problem, and closes in 2002, when he finds himself
in the same hospital having suffered a heart attack.
In between those hospital stays he joins the Civil Service,
rather than follow his father into the law, because he hopes, that way, he can
make a difference. And when disillusionment sets in, he starts up a tractor
manufacturing business in Connemara, so bringing employment to the area. This goes well; until, much later, when he is
called as a witness to a tribunal leaving his business, and his reputation in
tatters.
The beautiful Sinead doesn’t fare any better. She finds
herself out of synch with her role as wife and mother. Feeling frustrated and
lonely, she wants to work, but is thwarted. She and Declan don’t seem able to
communicate on any meaningful level. Depression follows, then she turns to
drink, before quitting, and, finally, being taken seriously, she starts working
in her husband’s business.
All this is shown through episodic vignettes, as we follow
the couple through their successes and challenges. There’s a tragedy too, to
contend with. It’s not easy to sweep
through forty two years in just 260 pages, especially when the writing covers
societal and personal changes, but to the main Quinn manages this well.
The changes in women’s lives is starkly shown, when the
couples’ daughter Issie takes up the story. She’s determined to avoid the
stifled life of her mother. The two were never close, so she hot foots it to Berlin to pursue
journalism. She becomes a successful feature writer, but when she bed hops and becomes pregnant, it’s
back to Dublin as a lone parent. And, although Ireland is booming, the Irish papers offer her little more than
the occasional property feature.
Declan’s heart attack brings the family together, and shows
that, at least, they can console each other. Mount Merrion is a thought
provoking novel for our time which cleverly tells the story of Ireland
alongside the mundane tale of a long marriage. At times, the brevity felt disconcerting, but
there are moments when Quinn’s writing positively shines. It will be
interesting to see what he comes up with next.
Michele Forbes is not the first Irish actor to pick up her
pen; there have been several in recent years, and the transition seems to work
well; if nothing else an actor has a feel for words, and a sense of what makes
a scene work. Michele, though, brings even more to her craft. Her wonderful
Belfast based debut is both beautifully paced and poetic. She has an unerring
sense of story, and catches the nuances of relationships, whether between men
and women, mothers and children or between friends exceptionally well.
Ghost Moth opens in August 1969. Katherine, a wife and mum of four is swimming
far out at sea when she comes face to face with a seal. The creature with his
all-knowing eyes scares her; she panics and comes close to drowning. Safe once
more, she can’t shift her mood of doom, and this throws her into memories of
her courtship with her husband George back in September 1949.
Back then Katherine was an accounts clerk whose spare time
was spent singing; rehearsing the part
of Carmen for an amateur production. This section opens when she meets Tom, a
tailor, on the very night that George proposes. From then on the novel flits
between the two timelines as Katherine tries to make sense of the past and reconcile
the present.
A fascinating heroine, the young Katherine seems to drift
through life in a dream; falling head over heels for the enigma that is Tom,
yet never quite managing to tell him she is engaged to someone else, or,
indeed, to end it with George. It doesn’t help that she’s not at all sure that
Tom is all he seems. His receptionist hints that he has gambling debts, whereas
George can be relied upon to love and protect her forever. I adored these scenes for their originality
and sheer drama.
The latter part is well handled too. Belfast is on the cusp
of the troubles. There are an increasing number of incident, and George, a
part-time fireman is getting called out more and more often. Meanwhile the
children, whilst occasionally taunted by protestant neighbours, are more
concerned with their friends, and in the teenage Maureen’s case, with burgeoning
love.
When Maureen asks her mother how you know when you’re in
love, Katherine surprises herself by saying, ‘you feel yourself floating and
burning at the same time… and you’re different from before.’ Those words, she
realises, are a description of the frenetic love she had for Tom – and do not
apply to the steadier marital love.
There are many twists and turns before this novel reaches
its sad conclusion. It’s a literary page turner; poetically written, and with complex
characters that stay in your mind. What more could you ask for?
© Sue Leonard 2013
Maura Mulligan
Beginner’s
Pluck.
Interviewed
by Sue Leonard.
Published
in the Irish Examiner on 2nd November 2013
Beginner’s
Pluck. Maura Mulligan
As
a teenager Maura was a servant in a big house. Then, sailing for America, she
worked as a telephone operator before becoming a nun. Eventually leaving, she had
occasionally acting parts, and she ran a language school. Then she taught English
in the New York system.
“I started writing in the nineties.
I took a writing course on Achill Island, led by the poet, Macdara Woods. That
was where I first heard the echoes of childhood mingle with the winds of
emigration.”
Who is Maura
Mulligan?
Date
of birth: May 1941 in Aghamore, County Mayo.
Education:
“I left school in Ireland at 12, but I gained a BA when I was in the convent.
Afterwards, I earned an MA in Arts at Hunter College, New York.”
Home:
New Jersey, near New York. .
Family:
A sister Bridie, and a brother John.
The
Day Job: Retired teacher. “I still teach Céilí dancing, and, occasionally,
Irish to adults.”
Interests:
“I love attending dance and music summer schools in Ireland.”
Favourite
Writers: Edna O’ Brien, Frank McCourt, Colm Tóibín. Nuala O’ Faolain and Anne
Lamott
Second
Novel: I’m working on a novel based in Ireland.
Top
Writing Tip: Enjoy the process. If it’s not fun, do something else.
The Debut: Call
of the Lark. Greenpoint Press: €10.70.
This
memoir follows Maura’s childhood in forties rural Ireland, and shows how
emigration, back then, seemed the only choice. It’s a vivid portrait of life as
a nun; the joys, frustrations, the humour, and, finally, after Vatican 11
brought in changes, the decision to leave the confines of that life.
“Leaving Ireland didn’t feel like a free
choice. It was what was expected of you. All that was familiar stayed firmly
planted in my head, and in my heart. I simply had to write it. And besides,
someone needed to give witness to living in that corner of Mayo.”
The Verdict: A
beautiful, gentle memoir of life in a convent. And of a woman unafraid to
change her life.
©
Sue Leonard. 2013.
Jennifer Ridyard
Beginner’s
Pluck.
Interviewed
by Sue Leonard.
Published
in The Irish Examiner on October 26th.
Beginner’s Pluck
Jennifer Ridyard.
Jennie
enjoyed an Idyllic South African childhood, unaware of apartheid. After school
she had various jobs, including waitressing and nursing. She worked in a bank for
years before becoming a journalist in 1994. After a stint in London, she became
Lifestyle Editor for a South African National newspaper. She moved to Ireland
in 2004 to be with John Connolly.
“I met John in 2000, when I interviewed
him.”
She
now works as a copy editor, and has written three unpublished manuscripts.
Who is Jennifer
Ridyard?
Date
of birth: 8th October, 1981, in Stockport, Manchester. “But I emigrated
to South Africa when I was two years old.”
Education:
A government school in Benoni, near Johannesburg. Jennie went to WITS
university but left when she became pregnant in her first year.
Home:
Dublin.
Family: Partner, the writer John Connolly. Cameron, 22, and Alistair 15. Two rescue dogs, Sasha and Coco.
The
Day Job: Fulltime writer/copywriter.
Interests:
Dogs, cake and reading.
Favourite
Writers: Jeffrey Eugenides; Chimamanda Adichie; Dennis Lehane and Marian Keyes.
Second
Novel: “We’ve started writing the second in the series. We spend hours
discussing it over dinner.”
Top
Writing Tip: “Just do it. Don’t edit yourself all the time. Writers can get so
caught up in the words that they forget about the story. The story and the characters
are paramount.”
Web; www.chroniclesoftheinvaders.com Twitter: @JennieRidyard
The Debut: Conquest.
Part One of the Chronicles of the Invaders. (With John Connolly.) Headline: €18.75
Kindle:€7.67.
Conquest
shows a time when earth is ruled by the Illyra. Syl Hellais is the first Illyra
to have been born on earth. She longs to escape her father’s stronghold. At 16,
she saves the life of a human, Paul Kerr, and, cast out, her life changes for ever.
“John had the idea, but not enough time
to write it. He gave me the beginning and the synopsis, I wrote it, and we both
bashed it into shape.”
The Verdict: The
first of a new series for teenagers. Original, funny, and beautifully written.
© Sue Leonard.
2013
Colin Barrett
Beginner’s
Pluck.
Interviewed
by Sue Leonard.
Published
in The Irish Examiner on October 19th
Beginner’s
Pluck. Colin Barrett
Colin
can’t remember a time when he wasn’t writing. He read randomly, too.
“There weren’t many books in our
house, but I remember reading The English patient at thirteen. I didn’t
understand it all, but I was fascinated by the language and kept reading.”
After
college, Colin worked for Vodafone for five years, but all that time he read
widely, absorbing influences, and experimenting with writing. He left work to
take a Masters in Creative Writing, completing four short stories that year.
“Two were published by the end of
the course, and Declan Meade of The Stinging Fly said he would be interested in
publishing a collection.”
Date
of birth: April 1982, in Canada.
Education:
St Muredachs College in Ballina, Mayo. UCD, English. UCD Masters in Creative
Writing. (2008.)
Home:
Mullingar.
Family:
Girlfriend, Lucy Perrem; parents, and four younger brothers.
The
Day Job: Fulltime writer. “I was working until June, on and off.”
Interests:
Football. “Playing as well as watching. I find it therapeutic. I play twice a
week.”
Favourite
Writers: Influences have been, Kevin Barry; Flannery O’Connor; Barry Hannah and
David Foster Wallace.
Second
Novel: “I’m working on a novel.”
Top
Writing Tip: Don’t be afraid of overwriting in your first draft; you can always
cut it back.
Twitter:
@colinbarrett82
The Debut: Young
Skins. The Stinging Fly:€12.99. Kindle: Available soon.
Set
in a fictional town in County Mayo, these stories examine the minutiae of the
lives of the young in post-boom Ireland. Superbly observed, many show the
vulnerability of young men compared to the relative strength of the women.
Tug is obsessed with the case of a missing
child; Bat fears socialising after a random attack leaves him with a messed-up
face and constant headaches; Doran and Eli take refuge in a pub, reluctant to
attend a funeral of a women they both loved.
The Verdict: Every
sentence counts in these mesmerising stories from an exciting new literary
author. Although vicious, they show a tender side of humanity.
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