Ghost Moth | 
pickCan I take a moment to brag about how commendably cultured I felt when I realized, almost immediately, that this novel is a direct homage to Joyce‘s “The Dead”? Go me! 🥳😅
The parallel is gorgeously wrought, with white moths in the dead of a summer‘s night acting as the snow and The Troubles supplanting the political unrest of the early 1900‘s (“Fenian” taking the derogatory place of “West Briton”). 👇🏻
monalyisha 1/2: I‘ll admit that I picked this up at a used bookstore because I liked the title and cover, and the first few pages detail swimming in the sea alongside a seal. I thought it smacked of Irish selkie lore. While I was wrong about it having a bit of a magical bent, the story does focus on metamorphosis, how we (especially women) can feel (or be) trapped, and the ways in which we harbor multiple selves. (edited) 9mo
monalyisha 2/2: I was jarred by an instance of casual, racist slang which places the narrative in time (1940‘s - 1960‘s). And I still can‘t decide if I think it was a wise choice that Forbes didn‘t attempt to create her own version of Joyce‘s famous, alliterative, onomatopoeic last lines — or if I‘m disappointed. It‘s true that there may be a few too many similes. Otherwise, this surprise of a debut novel (from 2013) took my breath away. (edited) 9mo
