Later I trained as a cook so, from the outset, wrote about food without thinking about it. You worked for many years as a chef and there is a wonderful dinner party set-piece in Trespasses? Do you like writing about food? Do you find it an effective way to reveal character?Įven as a child I was fascinated by what people eat, lurking around a friend’s kitchen to watch her mother slop a Fray Bentos steak and kidney pie from a tin, waiting for the magical reconstitution of a Vesta curry - my own mother did not serve processed food. Moving to the south made me realise how utterly exhausting it was to live that way. There were lots of individual incidents, but what I remember most is the tension. I want to read it again.What are your main memories of the conflict – both personal and public? Has living south of the Border influenced your perspective? Memories come flooding back of hearing the news at that time and you feel a renewed appreciation of the fear and terror the people experienced just going about their everyday lives. The book is set in the 70s and is stunningly and shockingly atmospheric. The children, seven-year-olds in her class are familiar with 'petrol bombs' and 'rubber bullets', and if a child is absent one day it may well be because their father has been assaulted or arrested. What's more, their relationship has had to take place with the backdrop of violence, ever present in this region. She thinks that she is keeping their relationship discreet, a secret, but in the light of tragic events, she comes to realise that nothing is secret here.
One day barrister and married man, Michael Agnew walks in, and they begin an affair. Real. Couldn't put it down.Ĭushla is a young teacher who works a few hours a week in her family's pub in Northern Ireland. Well, I'm so glad I put all these reservations aside and dived in. And wasn't convinced I wanted to read another book set in Ireland.
But it didn't appeal! I don't like the cover. This novel has been attracting a lot of attention and a friend insisted I should read it.
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