Donal Ryan - The Queen of Dirt Island

Donal Ryan - The Queen of Dirt Island 

3.5⭐

Genre: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Irish Literature

Pages: 256 

Format: Hardback Proof 

Publisher:  Double Day, Transworld Books 

Date Published: 18th August 2022 

 Huge thank you to Transworld and Double Day Books for sending me a proof copy of this book to read and review. 

 

Book Blurb: 

The Aylward women of Nenagh, Tipperary, are mad about each other, but you wouldn't always think it. You'd have to know them to know - in spite of what the neighbours might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes - that their house is a place of peace, filled with love, a refuge from the sadness and cruelty of the world.

Their story begins at an end and ends at a beginning. It involves wives and widows, gunrunners and gougers, sinners and saints. It's a story of terrible betrayals and fierce loyalties, of isolation and togetherness, of transgression, forgiveness, desire, and love. About all the things family can be and all the things it sometimes isn't. From the prize-winning author of Strange Flowers and The Spinning Heart, The Queen of Dirt Island is an uplifting celebration of fierce, loyal love and the powerful stories that bind generations together.

My Review: 

It was a very interesting and different kind of story. Especially the way it was written, with beautiful language that captures each of the character and their personalities, as well as actions, so well. I also really liked the short chapters that each portray one story, but together those chapters merge and make up this amazing life journey that each of the characters goes through. I loved the writing. However, the story itself, although started very strong, the ending was a bit disappointing.

The story follows four generations of Aylward women of Nenagh in Tipperary. It's about their life stories, filled with love, hate, anger, passion, peace, war, sins, forgiveness and desire. This book is about family, their connections and love, sometimes deep and sometimes not. It is a story about strong women, their strength, love, sacrifice and life with and without each other.

I loved the strong female characters in this book. Each of them was so well written, with strong personalities, voices and strengths. Their growth through the book was brilliantly written and explored.

Although I liked the short chapters and the story that they all merge into, some of them felt a bit unnecessary to the overall story. So as some of the characters that were explored. Apart from the main female characters, I couldn’t connect with any others, as they weren’t explored as much or just appeared for a little while, not giving enough time to get to know them. I much rather read more about the females in the story.

Overall: I liked the writing; it just flew and was so easy to get into the story. I loved the exploration of different generations of women, their strengths, growth, love…However, I was quite disappointed by the abrupt ending. 

About the Author:

Donal Ryan is the author of the novels The Spinning Heart, The Thing About December, the short-story collection A Slanting of the Sun, and the forthcoming novel All We Shall Know. He holds a degree in Law from the University of Limerick, and worked for the National Employment Rights Authority before the success of his first two novels allowed him to pursue writing as a full-time career.

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6521880.Donal_Ryan