“Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland” by Patrick Radden Keefe

This book has been on my to read list for a while, and I didn’t know until I picked it up that the author also had written Empire of Pain, a book my partner really enjoyed. So I was excited to pick it up. I think there are some issues with the framing of the story, but overall this was a really intriguing and impressive look at the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

The book opens with detectives heading to Boston College to investigate a murder. From there it jumps back twenty or so years and starts telling us about the night Jean McConville was abducted from her home of ten children. It jumps again and starts telling us the history of the Troubles. Some characters of note are the Price sisters, Dolores and Miriam; the McConville children of course; and a few other IRA members. The focus jumps around a little bit to update us on everyone as the Troubles progress, up to the car bombs in London and the jailing of Dolores and Miriam and all the hunger strikers, including Bobby Sands and nine others that died in jail. We then get to Gerry Adams going into politics and orchestrating the Good Friday Agreement that ended the violence.

In the aftermath, a former IRA member Mackers starts setting up oral histories of the IRA with members, under the agreement that it wouldn’t be released until the members died. However, investigations into the handful of folks disappeared by the IRA jumps the gun and soon oral histories are being requested to investigate the murder of Jean McConville. There’s a whole back and forth about whether to hand the tapes over and Boston College capitulates. Unfortunately though, not many folks talked about her death. It’s Keefe himself who takes it on himself to put together the pieces, and through a few fragments he manages to place Miriam Price at the location of the murder and likely the person who pulled the fatal trigger. The book ends with this narrative about the author and reflection on the writing process of this book and memories of the IRA.

It did take me a while to get into the book, I was primarily interested in the murder and the book departs from that narrative for the majority of the text. It felt a bit clickbait-y, the way it opens with the murder and intrigue and then departs to give a whole history of an entire movement first. Once the second half comes though with the discussion of the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement and the debate around these tapes I was more absorbed. I feel like there was a framing that could be worked out that makes this more a history of the Troubles, but I do understand if Keefe is interested in publishing his theory of the murder that this framing would make sense to him. So hard to say which would be better for the work as a whole.

I was also extremely impressed with the depth of the work. Keefe explicitly talks about memory and tries to corroborate accounts when possible, and make use of direct quotes. He was able to talk to a lot of folks, like the McConville children, and the folks making the oral history. Many other also refused to talk to him, but the depth is so impressive. Multiple characters are detailed out, and I felt like I could keep them all straight, which is a feat in and of itself. It really speaks to the strengths of the writing that during the book I didn’t get confused or have to flip back to remind myself who someone was.

The book is excellent, so well written and such a thorough account of a relatively recent and heated topic in history. My only minor quip is the framing, but it does pay off by the end of the work. I should check out Empire of Pain next, I could read more of this writing style.

This Is Beautiful: Interviews

 So I haven't had much, but I've now had 2 virtual interviews, and one of those is now leading to an in person interview for a teaching position! I just got the details this week for that, and it's really exciting that I'm at least getting a few nibbles on my applications! I will get out of here and get a job haha.

“In an Absent Dream” by Seanan McGuire

This is another installment of the Wayward Children series, and it’s another stand alone about one person’s trip through a mysterious door. (You can read about the first, second, and third books in the series at these links.) This time it’s Lundy, the counselor from Every Heart a Doorway who ages backwards. Her story is pretty tragic to be honest, but it has all of the charm of the rest of the series.

Lundy is a young girl who loves reading and finds a tree that has twisted itself into a door. She goes through and finds herself at the Goblin Market, which is run by strict rules concerning fair value and bartering amongst the inhabitants. Those that don’t fulfill their promises and don’t give fair value get slowly turned into birds. Giving fair value turns yourself back. Lundy meets Moon, a young child that’s already part bird, and the Archivist who becomes a surrogate mother and teacher. Lundy goes on an adventure, resulting in the death of one of her friends, and returns to her world devastated.

She goes back to the Goblin Market after experiencing some pretty bad misogyny from her teacher, and stays for a while. She has until her eighteenth birthday to decide which world she wants to stay in. She goes on more adventures, but wants to return to grab supplies and ends up being sent to a boarding school by her father who had also been to the Goblin Market and wants to keep Lundy in his world. She escapes, saves Moon from becoming a bird, and wants to stay in the Goblin Market, but also wants to say goodbye to her family. Her sister pulls her back in forcefully, enough that Lundy goes back and forth for a while, but eventually wants to put off her choice. She drinks a potion to make her stop aging, and ends up banished from the Goblin Market for messing with the rules. Eleanor then finds her and brings her to the school.

The story is pretty depressing to be honest. Lundy deals with heavy grief when her friend dies, and is kicked out of her home because she loved her sister. I kept expecting Moon to turn on her as well, their relationship goes through some rocky patches, but that ended up not happening, surprisingly enough. It is in fact the Archivist that is revealed to be the Market manifest who kicks her out, she is unhappy about it but has to do it anyways. So the rejection coming from a mother figure hurts even more.

The characters and the world building are the strong suit here. The questing and all that is entirely skipped over in a time jump, the book wants to focus on Lundy making the journey back and forth rather than the adventures she goes on. I did not hate that choice, although I could see McGuire being nervous about it. The book isn’t supposed to be exciting, it’s supposed to leave you in suspense and it does that really well.

Having said all that, I definitely don’t like these one off stories as much as Every Heart a Doorway or Beneath the Sugar Sky where the whole group of wayward kids is together. I hope that there’s more group adventures in store, apart from being more entertaining with a wide variety of characters, they also give more insight into the physics of all these worlds than the single journeys. The one offs though definitely have more material to feed them, you could write about every character’s journey that way. Group activities are harder to plan.

I’m excited to keep going with this series, I really like it so far. Hopefully there’s more intriguing worlds left to explore!

This Is Beautiful: Celebrations

 I've been trying to take time to celebrate my PhD, setting up events that I just find fun and all that. And also I've had friends defending, lab mates defending, and it's an exciting time in general with the summer coming up. It's just nice to take time to celebrate our accomplishments and spend time with each other rather than constantly working and whatnot. 

“The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett

Another book that I think ended up on my reading list because I heard about it years ago and was intrigued, but I can’t totally remember. It was a really good read, the characters sucked me in and pulled me along their journey. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next.

The story spans several decades but it starts in the sixties with one of a pair of twins that ran away from Mallard returning. The one returning is Desiree, and she brings a dark child with her. Mallard is odd in that it’s all Black people living there, but they have tried to make themselves as light as possible. It tells how Desiree ran away with her twin Stella, but then Stella ran off on her own (pretending to be white). Desiree married a darker man, had a kid, and had to run off with the child once that relationship became abusive. So she raises her child, Jude, in Mallard. Jump forward to Jude now heading to UCLA for college. She meets and falls in love with Reese, a trans man who also ran away from home. To save up money for his top surgery Jude starts working fancy parties, and at one of the parties gets a glimpse of Stella.

Fast forward a little more, Stella’s daughter Kennedy that Jude met at the party is starring in a show with one of their drag queen friends. Jude starts getting close to Kennedy, trying to learn about Stella. One night Stella comes to the show but doesn’t believe Jude when she says she’s Desiree’s daughter. Fast forward and jump to New York, Kennedy is trying to make it as an actress. Jude and Reese show up there as they had to move to get Reese’s surgery. Jude gives Kennedy a picture of their mothers as kids and they strike up a more friendly relationship. Stella learns about Jude, and finally visits Mallard as her mother suffers from Alzheimer’s. Kennedy eventually comes home and Stella comes clean to her daughter. Final jump, Jude is in medical school and learns her grandmother has died. She and Reese head back to Mallard for the funeral.

The book is largely about the different people we are and could be, and what happens when we cut off our past to be those people. Stella pretends to be white and has a whole new family. Reese runs off to be a man. Kennedy keeps trying to leave, unsuccessfully. Jude even has to go to LA to be herself. The foils of Stella and Reese, while not always directly compared, are interesting because it shows that this cutting off isn’t always a bad thing. Reese’s parents were abusive and he never heads back, although he still understands the importance of family and wants to be one with Jude. I thought it was a really interesting look at identity and race, and the lengths we are willing to go there.

I also just really loved Reese and all of their queer friends in LA. I wish there was more of that in the second half of the book. But it was so cool to see someone go through gender affirming care in the seventies and see that found family that they all have. Plus trans male representation is still so rare, it feels like something to treasure whenever it pops up.

The characters and the plot were all so compelling in this book, I really loved going through it. It’s Bennett’s second novel, I’ll have to try and find her first as well.

This Is Beautiful: Paralympics!

 Thank goodness that there's more Olympics to be had! The Paralympics started on the 6th and we are back to watching so much of it! I hadn't watched much of the Paralympics previously so this is a lot of fun for me. I love seeing the creative ways folks can do sports. I also haven't watched much wheelchair curling and sled hockey so I'm enjoying this a lot. I hope I'm able to pay this much attention every time the Olympics/Paralympics come around.

“Beneath the Sugar Sky” by Seanan McGuire

This is the third book of the Wayward Children series I’ve been enjoying (with the first and second books also covered) and I liked it so much more than the second installment. This returns to the cast of the first book, with a new protagonist, but it revisits the location and characters I loved in the original installment that got me hooked.

The book’s main character is Cora who is from an underwater world where she was a mermaid. She loves swimming and is athletic, but it’s implied that she takes her own life in response to bullying about her weight and that’s how she gets to her world. She’s a new arrival at Eleanor West’s house, and her friend is her roommate Nadya who also came from a water world. They are hanging out in the pond when Rini plunges through the water looking for her mom, Sumi. Sumi died in the first book, so they go to get Christopher and Kade to sort this out. All of them first go to find Sumi’s body, then to the Land of the Dead to see Nancy (main character of the first book) to get her spirit, and then finally to Confection to get her Nonsense. Nadya elects to stay in the Land of the Dead in exchange for her spirit, but in the end they successfully return with Sumi after the Baker of Confection bakes her back together.

One of the highlights of the series is the diversity. Having the main character being called fat despite her athleticism, and especially go to a land of sugar and deal with all those feelings, is really cool to read about. You don’t often encounter that perspective in a fantasy novel. Plus the Baker is a girl with a hijab from Brooklyn, and that was interesting as she was originally called a god by some of the characters. She had to clarify that she isn’t particularly religious.

I have to wonder how the series will eventually deal with the potential relationships that spring up between the characters. Kade clearly still likes Nancy, even with her in the Land of the Dead and him stuck at Eleanor’s. Christopher and Cora also appear to be developing a relationship, or at least a crush, which is unfortunate as Christopher keeps proclaiming that he loves the Skeleton Girl. Seems like an unfortunate love triangle to be stuck in.

The logic of these worlds was also developed further here, but I’m still confused about it all. That doesn’t really detract though, half of the characters are confused as well so it does truly feel like a bonus if you’re able to reread and gleam a little more of the organization from the text. For now though, I get enough to get by and I’m pleased with that.

This series is so much fun, I’m really glad to keep going with it. I hope that the rest are similar to this one instead of departing from the setting that got me hooked in the first place.