2008-06-23 unjustly maligned

Having just finished this book, I find some of the descriptions of its boredom-inducing qualities in other reviews unwarrented. The central 'plot' is well-described elsewhere - a woman comes to term with her past and that of her recently dead brother in the context of her large Irish family - but it is the peeling back of the onion layers, the gradual revelation, the crystallisation of detail that gives this book its appeal. Yes, it reads as a monologue, first-person narrated, and yes, there may be little traditional characterisation, but I found it compellingly written, in a distilled-down, nothing-wasted kind of style that combines simplicity and depth. If you are prepared to accept ambiguity in what is real, what is unreal, what is half-remembered by the narrator, then it's a rewarding read.