When the final report of the Commission of investigation into Mother and Baby Homes was published in 2020 it caused an outcry, because of its assessment that those who bore the greatest responsibility for the horror and cruelty experienced by so many women and their children were not officials of the Catholic Church and the state, but the women's families instead.
so-soJust okay. Kind of forgettable and lots of characters.
pickI mean, it's Sarah Moss so of course it's good!
There were storylines, though, that I would happily have read whole books about and so (unreasonably) feel a little short-changed.
She [Clair's mother] has built her sense of herself through these stories and at this stage - she's over ninety... questions aren't helpful. I ask them anyway, my sceptical, disenchanting questions. I go further and I actually check facts... Sometimes I come back to her with evidence that proves that what she remembers or what she heard can't have happened that way. She is never pleased about this. Yet she keeps feeding me stories.
repost for @Librarybelle
#LiteraryCrew ‘s last book for 2025 is Toibin‘s Brooklyn.
Discussion on December 31st. Read at your own pace. I‘ll post periodic check-ins throughout the month. All are welcome to join. Let me know if you wish to be tagged.
Don‘t forget to see the list for 2026! If you have not signed up for 2026 yet and wish to be added to the tag list, let me know!
#LiteraryCrew ‘s last book for 2025 is Toibin‘s Brooklyn.
Discussion on December 31st. Read at your own pace. I‘ll post periodic check-ins throughout the month. All are welcome to join. Let me know if you wish to be tagged.
Don‘t forget to see the list for 2026! If you have not signed up for 2026 yet and wish to be added to the tag list, let me know!
mcctrish, mjdowens, melissajayne, Jerdencon, tpixie, LapReader, Cuilin, kspenmoll, PurpleyPumpkin, Prairiegirl_reading, Deblovestoread, Sace, CatLass007, Mollyanna, BookwormAHN, Pogue, dabbe, Sargar114, Karisa, bumpinthenight, Singout, julieclair, AllDebooks, IriDas, Lkempf
"Hungry Paul lived on a knife edge between a passion for board games and an aversion to instruction booklets."
pickAnother winner from John Boyne. This one is made up of 4 novellas very loosely related to one another, but the way they subtly interweave is genius, and in the end it all comes full circle.
Random book from our personal library.
pickThis book speaks to sexual abuse and rape in such a powerful way through four novellas representing water (enabler), earth (accomplice), fire (perpetrator), and air (victim). Characters weave subtly from one element to the next while time always moves forward. The ending is beautiful, which is an accomplishment since these elements are brutal in their destruction.
