After a drunken yet delicate rendition of 'The Fields of Athenry' at the Donohues' raucous annual party, Jim captures both the attention of the beautiful Saidhbh Donohue and the unwanted desires of the devious and dangerous Father Luke O'Culigeen. Bounced between his growing love for Saidhbh and his need to avoid the dreaded O'Culigeen, Jim's life starts to unravel.
I hardly ever cry at books, can't remember the last time I did. But this one had me actually sobbing-crying at the end. That isn't to say its depressing, though it is sometimes hard to take. Usually I seem to be once removed from the world in a book, but Maher has taken down all the walls and you are right there. This coupled with a compelling story line means it is difficult to tear yourself away. The most incredible thing I think is the way Maher makes you care so much about Jim, he is a phenomenal writer just for that.
Ill give you this bit, so you can see why you love Jim as a narrator, and why the funny bits are worth the punches. Jim is at school, having a lesson on Wuthering Heights:
'And Mr Clarke then puts down the book and looks around the room and asks us to imagine loving a girl so much that we'd want to bash our heads off a knotty tree trunk for her, even though she was dead. All the GAA lads snort at this, and say things like, She can knot my trunk any day of the week! Which is totally stupid and doesn't mean anything, but gets everyone laughing and kind of makes Mr Clarke stare into space and dream about a time when he might be teaching real-life boys and not a load of complete fecking eejits'
Thanks for my proof Little, Brown.
I have just started (meaning I have broken the spine and put my bookmark in the first page of) 'Telling the Bees' by Peggy Hesketh.
