Anna Hughes is an innocent young woman in Dublin in the mid-1980s. She’s still a teenager (‘I’ll soon be 20’) when she meets an older man, Peter Gallagher, at a nightclub in Dublin. She’s naively young; he’s much more worldly. Soon her life revolves solely around him. What is Anna to him, though? A younger (virginal) lover? He’s a hiker and mountain climber: is she just one more thing to conquer? His friends ignore her; her family aren’t sophisticated enough for him; he’s secretive and controlling. And yet, her devotion to him is absolute. This will not end well.
After two lost pregnancies, the discovery of Peter’s infidelities, and his disappearance on a mountaineering trip to the Himalayas, Anna lives with only her dog, Boo for company. She’s studied Jungian psychology, focusing on individuation and dream interpretation. She meets an Algerian Muslim, Karim Djebar, who shows her the kindness missing from her previous relationship. Karim’s nephew is killed back in Algeria, and his return there, along with the guilt he feels about his relationship with Anna, prompts him to become more devout. Anna follows his lead, but many of the things in her life are now haram. She finds it difficult to justify the restrictions.
Aligning with her Jungian study, dreams feature. They’re naturally a vehicle for foreshadowing, but their specificity undermines the narrative’s credibility. Costello’s writing is tight; her characterisations are excellent; and her depiction of last-century Dublin is wonderful. There’s a valuable lesson here in not subsuming your own individuality trying to maintain a (toxic) relationship.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Costello’s short story collection, The China Factory, was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Her first novel, Academy Street, won the Irish Novel of the Year Award and was named overall Irish Book of the Year in 2014. The River Capture, her second novel, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Group Awards and the Dalkey Book Awards. Mary Costello lives in Galway.
0 Comments