Kennedy, a fiftysomething former chef, spent much of her childhood in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. Over the course of spring and summer, these two distinct plotlines converge to devastating effect. The first tracks Cushla’s affair with Michael Agnew, an older, married Protestant the second her involvement in the home life of bullied pupil Davy McGeown, whose earnest goofiness steals her heart. She does so with skill, combining unflinching authenticity with narrative dexterity and a flair for detail, all wrapped up in a moving love story – two, really. In Trespasses, her first novel, acclaimed short-story writer Louise Kennedy sets herself the challenge of encapsulating those unspeakable times and the powerlessness felt by ordinary people caught in the crossfire.
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