The Coast Road: A Novel | 
My Booker reading is going nowhere this month, as I have to read books in the order that they are due back to the library. 😛
On the bright side, it pushed me to read these three books which are all excellent. I haven't finished The Coast Road yet, but unless the ending is terrible I predict five stars. I'm also pleasantly surprised at the skill and empathy with which the male author has written the female characters.
pickCounty Donegal, 1994, just before Irish referendum allowing divorce. Women‘s friendships, women pushing against marriages, loving their children extravagantly. Scandal & dread, bits of humor. Irish “Big Little Lies”? 2024
186 “The boy was depressed […] Half the country was depressed, including herself.”
306 “The only thing that seemed to offer her comfort was the lesson she had taken from Colette–that acceptance was not the same as resignation”
pickA story set in 1990's Ireland looking at three marriages in a country where divorce is not legal. Some beautiful writing, but it did not blow me away. 3 🌟
pickThe Coast Road is a quiet, simmering portrait of a small community in Ireland during the lead up to the divorce vote. It focuses on women and their choices, and how those choices are constrained both by the law and society. Gripping.
🌊 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝑴𝒂𝒊𝒍 📬
I received a copy of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐨𝐚𝐝 by 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧, thanks to the generosity of Bibliolifestyle & Harper Via Books. This debut novel is set in “a claustrophobic coast town“ in Ireland when divorce was still illegal. The story of 2 women's “search for independence in a society that seeks to limit it“ is a “smashing debut“ & “marvel“ (Publishers Weekly) that's perfect for book clubs. Published 06/04/24.
pickI can‘t call it a lovely quiet read as actually it‘s a bit of a sad story about lost people! Set against the backdrop of the divorce vote in Ireland. It‘s not that long ago and there‘s a lot of lost, lonely women in this.
A good read and a great cover.
#coverlove
There‘s a sub genre at the moment- small, quiet novels set in coastal Irish towns with amazing covers.
Reading on a quiet Sunday morning.
