This isn’t written so long ago, but some of it felt “of its time”, especially when it came to describing people’s bodies. I also didn’t like some of the characters.
Now that’s out the way, I liked it because it had some really great descriptions of Ireland and Irish society, fascinating social class and economic discourse from around the real estate crash, and it was really well-written with a good pace. You get a lot of cultural references and signifiers.
I also don’t really need to “like” characters to appreciate them, but there was a bit of “what on earth are you doing” going on. But that’s also kind of the fun of this novel too. It’s inviting you into an intimate space, where it doesn’t ask for forgiveness or judgement.
The premise is simple: the genesis and aftermath of an affair, from the POV of the people cheating. Novels about affairs can be very “sexy”, but this one was very real and raw.
Enright won the Man Booker Prize in 2007 for The Gathering. I’d like to read that and compare. A lot of her other novels also look good!
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