The Coast Road, set in Ireland in the mid-nineties when divorce was still illegal in Ireland, is a story about three women and their families. The women live in one of those small towns where everyone knows the business of everyone else in town and lives to talk about it, so when Colette convinces Dolores and her husband to rent her their empty cottage, a cottage in sight of the family home, secrets are not destined to be kept for very long. And that's going to be a big problem for all three of them.
First we meet, Izzy and her husband James. Izzy is not particularly happy with James, a local politician, these days. James probably feels the same way, but he doesn't seem to focus a whole lot on anything much other than staying popular with the voting public, so he's happy enough, really, with things as they are. Next up, are Dolores and Donal, parents of three small children, who are working hard just to make ends meet. Now, Colette, who has abandoned her own three sons to live with a man in Dublin, offers them the chance to earn a little rental income on a property otherwise never used so, of course, they jump at the chance.
The three women obviously have cracks in their marriages, but in 1995 Ireland there is little a woman can do to end an unhappy marriage or to escape an abusive husband. She is forever tied to her husband in the eyes of the law as well as, according to the Church, in the eyes of God. And this combination of Izzy, who gets roped into helping Colette see her son behind her husband's back; Dolores, whose husband recognizes just how vulnerable Colette is as soon as he sees her; and Colette, who in her despair turns to drink, is not one that is going to help anybody's marriage.
It's hard to imagine that divorce was still illegal in Ireland only 30 years ago, but I remember what a big deal it was when the referendum on legalizing divorce passed by a one percent margin in 1995. Alan Murrin has done a remarkable job capturing that period and the quiet despair that so many thousands of Irish women experienced then. Izzy, Colette, and Dolores are three women right on the cusp of being at least offered choices they have never had before. Whether or not it will be too late for them is the rest of the story Murrin tells in The Coast Road.
And it's a good one.
 |
| Alan Murrin publisher photo |
(The Coast Road will be published on June 4, 2024. Look for it then.)
If you are interested in Ireland, I read a book that I absolutely loved- We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole. Nonfiction.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation, Nan. I don't know of O'Toole, but I'll see if I can find that one.
DeleteThis is not the book for me. It just sounds too sad and depressing. Although that Irish setting is always interesting.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sad and depressing, particularly what happened to one of the main characters, but quite an eye-opener, too. I had forgotten just how recently Ireland changed some of the old laws regarding things like divorce. It was much the same in this country (and, I suppose, all over the world) until into the nineteenth century, but good grief....1995.
DeleteSounds like good historical fiction and the history of Ireland re marriage.
ReplyDeleteIt's beautifully written, Harvee, and I'm willing to bet that it captured that period in Ireland really well. It's the kind of novel that leaves you with plenty to think about later.
DeleteIt sounds like an interesting book. The Catholic Church had enormous power in Ireland until very recently but the scandals in the priesthood really shocked Ireland to its core. Divorce is not to be entered into lightly but sometimes particularly with spousal abuse it's absolutely necessary.
ReplyDeleteA whole lot of novels have resulted from the relationship between the Church and the government and people in Ireland, for sure. Ken Bruen writes some really dark crime novels about those days and the years immediately following. I think what bothers me most is reading about the abuses in some of the orphanages and how unwed teen mothers were handled. I was largely educated by Irish nuns in a Texas parochial school and I have fond memories of one in particular. She kept me reading several grades above level by finding the right books she knew would interest me - and she taught me how to turn a quick double-play on the baseball diamond. She was a special lady I knew until her death a couple of years ago.
DeleteI’ve noted the author as I like this story. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it if you get the chance to read it, Mystica. It's quite a story.
DeleteI liked this one too and agree. Murrin did a great job of conjuring the despair of those days for women. It's hard to imagine divorce not being available till 1995! Ugh. I think this author shows great promise.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely read something else from him because he is such an atmospheric writer that I felt trapped in that world the same way his female characters felt to be trapped in the limitations of that culture. He's one to watch.
DeleteI can't imagine what it would be like to be unable to leave abusive or violent marriage. Many women, of course, choose to stay when they shouldn't, but at least they have a choice. Some, however, are afraid to leave. I agree with you about the orphanage abused, especially the Magdalene Laundry abuses.
ReplyDeleteIt still seems impossible to me that Ireland could have held on to the old ways for so long.
Delete