Book Review: 'My Buried Life' by Doreen Finn.

I received a copy of this title, from the publishers, in return for an honest review...

Eva returns home to Dublin, to bury her mother.  The years away have not dulled her memories and she finds herself back in the darkness of her previous life.  Alcohol may numb the pain, for a short duration, but the misery envelopes her and there are ripples of a painful past in every corner of her childhood home.  A bitter break up, a bad case of writer's block and a daily battle with booze.  All these things are like a noose around her neck and she wonders what her future holds.  Two very different men enter her life, neither invited but both welcome in their own way.  Can the shadows of her past be chased away or are they destined to cloud over her forever?

This debut novel is striking in its honesty.  Not all middle class, well-educated children grow up with a sense of purpose.  Some are crippled with insecurity and have no idea what shape their lives will take.  Eva is lucky enough to be a functioning alcoholic, albeit with a distinct lack of family or friends.  Her return to Ireland is not one of fond memories and jovial reunions.  It very well may be the unravelling of her.  The recollections of a lonely childhood are intense and unsettling.  She recalls her loneliness and how her mother never seemed to acknowledge her presence.

 "Being ignored is merely a substitute, a fatigued person's bullying". 

Unlike many Irish novels of our time, Doreen Finn observes the insular vibe of the Irish community and their morbid fascination with funerals. 

 "Irish people love death, though, and its offshoots: removals, wakes, Masses, flowers and cards, not to mention the funerals themselves.  Nowhere else would people travel great distances, take time off work, rearrange entire days because someone has died.  In New York, invitations are issued to funerals.  There is no question of merely turning up at the church.  Americans aren't interested in death the way Irish people are.  They don't drive for hours to attend a removal, or wonder who will tend their grave when they themselves are gone.[...] Funerals are bigger than Christmas here, and they last almost as long."

  The prose surrounding the atmosphere of Eva's claustrophobic environs is stunning.  Equal measures of inadequacy, frustration and addictive despair are spread throughout the pages.  The lack of faith in herself and her decision making are profound and real.  She lingers on the threshold on relationships, unsure of whether to trust her own judgment or just presume the worst in each scenario presented to her.  She blames her mother for her inabilities to form lasting friendships, to take root in any one place.  As Phillip Larkin said, "They fuck you up, your  Mum and Dad.  They may not mean to, but they do."  As the novel progresses, at a gentle pace, Eva becomes more astute, more aware of her limitations and even allows trust to enter her life.  The resulting narrative is powerful.  It allows a glimpse at how a subtle change in mindset can let in enough light to cast a new perspective on ones present and future, rather than concentrating on the shaded areas of the past.  This is a wonderful debut.  One that lingers, without melodrama.  The story of one woman, among many, who chooses to try again...

Highly recommended. 

My Buried Life is published by New Island Books and is available in paperback and ebook format.  You can order your copy, with Free Worldwide Postage and 15% discount, here.  The ebook version can be ordered via amazon link below:

#IrishFictionFortnight - Day 14 - "My Buried Life" by Doreen Finn. Feature and Giveaway.

Thanks to New Island, there is a paperback edition of this title to giveaway for #IrishFictionFortnight.  Just enter via rafflecopter link below.  Good Luck!

IRISH FUNERALS IN FICTION by Margaret Madden

Irish funerals have a way about them.  They are an event in themselves.  Funeral homes are indeed used, but the further into the countryside you go, the more likely you are to attend a wake.  Irish people love a good funeral.  The best clothes are brought out, the homemade baking is wrapped in the nicest tea-towels and miles and miles of sandwiches are made. (Mostly ham and cheese, or egg salad).  People genuinely want to pay their respects, and must be seen to shake the hand of the bereaved, stand solemnly at a graveside or mention how wonderful the embalmed body looks in the open coffin.  There is no malice, just a need to be part of the gathering and there is always a gallon or two of tea to be had.  

If you do a google search of funerals in Irish fiction you will see some of our nations finest authors there.  James Joyce, John McGahern, Anne Enright et al.  However,  I have read two exquisitely crafted accounts of Irish funerals in recent years.  One was Donal Ryan's The Thing About December and the other was the opening chapters of this  novel, My Buried Life, from Doreen Finn.  

Both are set in recent times, both detail the days surrounding death and burial and both describe the reaction of the community to the passing of one of their own.  One in a country town, one in Dublin.  Donal Ryan uses his character, Johnsie to describe the women of the Irish Country Women's Association gathering in the home of a recently deceased man. 

"Sure why wouldn't they have been mad about their little crathur, Mother said to Molly Kinsella the day Dwyer died and a few of the ICA biddies had gathered in Johnsie's mother's kitchen to pick at the tragedy like crows picking at a flungaway snackbox."

  

In Doreen Finn's debut, her protagonist has returned from the US to bury her estranged mother.  Years of hostility and bitterness have brewed up inside her, and coming home is the last thing she wants.  The funeral is described from the eyes of a cynical, tired woman who has not set foot in Ireland for decades and feels nothing at the passing of her mother.

"Wet hands press my cold flesh.  Murmured words sweep over me, blending in a toneless wash of indecipherable sound.  Earth hits the coffin lid.  Thwack.  I try to focus on the eyes that line up in front of me, jet lag and a headache distancing me further from the kindness and awkward, fumbled mumbles of sympathy and solidarity."

While funerals may vary from county to county, and village to village, there is always a certainty that you will see people there that are serial funeral go-ers.  They go to see and be seen,, shake hands with the bereaved and eat paper-platefuls of triangle shaped sandwiches, all washed down with super-strength tea.  Sure, tea is the answer to everything...

THE BLURB

What happens when you no longer recognise the person you have become? 

Eva has managed to spend her twenties successfully hiding from herself in New York. 

Attempting to write, but really only writing her epitaph, she returns to Ireland to confront the past that has made her what she is. 

In prose that is hauntingly beautiful and delicate, Doreen Finn explores a truly complex and fascinating character with deft style and unflinching honesty. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Doreen Finn was born in Dublin. She was educated at UCD, and holds a degree in English and Spanish, and a Master s in Education. She has lived in Madrid and Los Angeles, and currently resides in Dublin with her husband and two small children. My Buried Life is her first novel


My Buried Life is published by New Island and is available in paperback and ebook format.  You can order your copy, with Free Worldwide Postage and 15% discount, here.  The ebook can be ordered via amazon link below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway