A pagan place

This book is told from the author to herself, and it took me a while to get into the writing style. But it is a captivating book about growing up in rural Ireland under severe religious and financial constraints.

Unfortunately, this one was a reading choice that failed to capture my attention...I was attracted by the title and the fact that I've always thought Edna O'Brien's writing would be ideal for me but this was a disaster...

In my opinion, there are many writers who succeeded in bringing the social and political issues in Ireland during the 30s and the 40s through interesting plots, memorable characters, and careful choices. This book only gave me melodramatic situations with a strange focus on sex, crudely done, mundane storylines and there was an utter lack of any kind of characters that would resonate with me. Plus, the absence of direct dialogue didn't really help...

I will give O'Brien another chance by reading ‘‘The Little Red Chairs'' but given the subject matter, my expectations are infinitely lower. I don't think she has the chops to do it justice...