Elaine Feeney delivers a moving meditation on enforced female roles in Irish society past and present
In retracing the trauma of multiple generations of a Galwegian family, the writer delivers a strong story that packs an emotional punch
On top of being a playwright and a Booker-longlisted novelist for 2024's beloved How to Build a Boat, Galwegian Elaine Feeney is also a well-respected poet and so is likely familiar with Philip Larkin's 1971 mini masterpiece This Be The Verse. Even those who are a stranger to his work have probably heard Larkin's assertion that your mum and dad mess you up, although the Bard of Hull used an expletive to better get his point across.
Don't blame your parents though, said Larkin, because they were 'messed' up by those who came before them. 'Man hands on misery to man' so get out while you can and don't look back. It's advice that Feeney's main character Claire O'Connor would have been wise to heed.
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Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Let Me Go Mad In My Own Way by Elaine Feeney: An ambitious, thoughtful, nicely layered book
Let Me Go Mad In My Own Way Author : Elaine Feeney ISBN-13 : 978-1-787-30348-5 Publisher : Penguin Guideline Price : £14.99 Claire O'Connor is a poet and lecturer in creative writing. She lived in London for about a decade with Tom but soon after the death of her mother she left him and returned to 'the West of Ireland' – Athenry. She decides to stay in the family home, a bungalow built beside the original farmhouse, now derelict. The novel by Elaine Feeney focuses on Claire's relationship with her siblings, her dead parents, and with Tom, who reappears some years after the split. We delve into the past, both Claire's childhood and the earlier history of the family and region. A brutal encounter with the Black and Tans during the War of Independence is a key moment. The history of colonialism in Ireland, and the particular socio-economic culture of east Galway are dealt with. In the fields of Athenry, horses vault the class divide. Hunting 'was far from being a sport of kings around these parts'. 'The women with wizened faces and men with booming voices, their riding style slightly at odds with the locals' join the farmers for the hunt. The queen of England wants to buy a mare from the O'Connors! [ Elaine Feeney on her new novel: 'I was pushing a sort of Chekhov dinner party in the west of Ireland' Opens in new window ] The colonial legacy is one of the novel's thematic strands and is linked to the story of domestic intergenerational trauma. John, Claire's father, is capricious and violent. Her mother and the children live in terror. The unravelling of the mystery surrounding the mother's death is shockingly disclosed towards the close of the novel. READ MORE Gender issues are also dealt with at a local and universal level. Claire follows Insta posts by Kelly Purchase, one of those awful American 'tradwives'. She finds Kelly absurd but compelling. Ironically, by the end of the novel, she hosts a splendid party (Pinteresque, naturally), revealing that Kelly has exerted influence. 'The crab was set on a bed of baby gem lettuce, dressed with some hard shell, samphire, cracked black pepper and fresh parsley.' The novel is written in transparent, unshowy prose. Not linear, the narrative maintains its focus on Claire and despite several time-shifts never confuses. The main themes are handled with insight and real depth, and the depiction of the peculiarities of east Galway society is ethnographically interesting and convincing. An ambitious, thoughtful, nicely layered book. Éilís Ní Dhuibhne is a writer and critic. She is a member of Aosdána
Irish Independent
2 days ago
- Irish Independent
Elaine Feeney delivers a moving meditation on enforced female roles in Irish society past and present
In retracing the trauma of multiple generations of a Galwegian family, the writer delivers a strong story that packs an emotional punch On top of being a playwright and a Booker-longlisted novelist for 2024's beloved How to Build a Boat, Galwegian Elaine Feeney is also a well-respected poet and so is likely familiar with Philip Larkin's 1971 mini masterpiece This Be The Verse. Even those who are a stranger to his work have probably heard Larkin's assertion that your mum and dad mess you up, although the Bard of Hull used an expletive to better get his point across. Don't blame your parents though, said Larkin, because they were 'messed' up by those who came before them. 'Man hands on misery to man' so get out while you can and don't look back. It's advice that Feeney's main character Claire O'Connor would have been wise to heed.
Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Maria Somerville: ‘I loved the Spice Girls but I'm not sure you would be able to tell on this album'
Indie songsmith Maria Somerville on how she struggled to surrender control as she sought a less 'introverted' second album The old adage says you can't go home again, but that is precisely what Maria Somerville did. After years in Dublin, the Galwegian musician returned to her home village on the shores of Lough Corrib in the midst of the pandemic. It was there that her second album Luster, released last month, began to take form. The fibres of her Connemara home are woven throughout every note. 'It was kind of an accident, because I was only supposed to go back for two weeks,' she says. 'The city didn't feel great at the time, and there were more rentals [available in Galway] because of the pandemic. I was in this house on the Corrib, and they said I could stay on, so that's kind of what happened.' She shrugs. 'It was kind of a happy blessing, I suppose. But it's also been nice to be back.'
