![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Better to have a mother who smoked and wore sunglasses even when it wasn’t sunny and had long hair. None of them looked like they were much use except for cutting grass with the same shared lawnmower, taking turns to cut the verges and the small green area at the front of the estate and the smaller green at the back Living fathers, then, weren’t much of a thing. In one chapter, Fathers, Saoirse notes the absence of a father in her life and watches fathers with their children: Men have roles here, but they are on the periphery of life–mostly troublemakers, men who impregnate women, who disappear when needed and are a general nuisance. These two women may not be blood relatives, but the bonds are strong, and they mesh as only like-minded people can. This death brings Nana (Mary) and Eileen together, but since they are so much alike, perhaps this would have happened anyway. Saoirse is the main focus, and the novel begins with her birth and the almost immediate accidental death of her father. Donal Ryan’s The Queen of Dirt Island is an episodic, life-affirming look at the lives and relationships of 4 strong Irish women: Nana, mother-in-law to Eileen, Saoirse, Eileen’s daughter and eventually, Pearl, Saoirse’s daughter. ![]()
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