The Queen of Dirt Island
A Novel
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4.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
“From its opening pages, this book exerts a quiet, propulsive hold over its reader. The three generations of Aylward women will break your heart and then put it back together again.” –Maggie O'Farrell
"This is a generous mosaic of a novel about the staying power of love and pride and history and family." –Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon and Let The Great World Spin
From the multi-award-winning and internationally bestselling author Donal Ryan, a searing, jubilant story about four generations of women and fierce love
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 that—in spite of what the neighbors might say about raised voices and dramatic scenes—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. Of all the things family can be and all the things it sometimes isn’t. The Queen of Dirt Island is an uplifting celebration of fierce, loyal love and the powerful stories that bind generations together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ryan (Strange Flowers) returns with an inspired story about four generations of women and girls living together in a small Irish village. Saoirse Aylward is just days old in 1982 when her father is killed in a car accident. Her mother, Eileen, a foul-mouthed, chain-smoking woman who tells Saoirse she loves her every night, has been estranged from her family ever since her premarital pregnancy. Now, as a widow, Eileen finds a dear friend in her late husband's mother, Saoirse's Nana. As Saoirse grows up, she adores Eileen, her Nana, and her two paternal uncles, Chris and Paudie, who dote on her. She also picks up on the meanness of the world during a visit to Eileen's childhood home, which Eileen and her relatives call "Dirt Island." Later, teenage Saoirse gets pregnant after a hazy encounter with a musician, causing much heartache. Nana moves in with them after having a stroke, and Chris gets married and Paudie is arrested for hiding guns for the IRA. Drama ensues with a conflict between Eileen and her brother over ownership of Dirt Island, and Saoirse's trust in her child's godparent is compromised. Short vignette-style chapters sometimes disrupt the flow, though each of the characters shimmers with life. Overall, this is glorious and moving.
