The Glorious Heresies

Book Title: The Glorious Heresies

Author: Lisa McInerney
Series: Ryan Cusack #1

Date Started: May 2nd 2017

Date Completed: May 12th 2017

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Contemporary
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three stars

Review:

The Glorious Heresies turned out to be not my kind of book, but an interesting read to add to the collection. Like much other literary fiction, finding an actual plot is a little hard but witnessing the experiences of a handful of characters as they go through a host of linked events provides ample opportunity to explore the darker side of Ireland.

Something that drew me to this book (aside from the rather good reviews and awards) was the setting of Ireland. A lot of creative work I love has come out of it and the history fascinates me, so it's a quick way to get me to have a look at something if there's an Irish setting. The look into the grim and darker parts of the nation was interesting, especially in the ways it took into account of religion, poverty and familial structures across the decades. But despite the edgy themes being shown, McInerney owns the Irish culture and identity throughout.

This book isn't really one with a story, but one following people over several years. As much as I love characters over plot, it isn't my thing to have basically no visible driving force leading us along. However, this book did make me notice more than before how much skill has to go into it to keep a pace up without clear plot events making each waypoint. As much as it seems like there's little significance to each point of action, it does all add up. And actually, I would be lying if I called it a book completely without a plot in hindsight. Throughout we're following the consequences of an accidental murder, but for me it worked more at pulling events and people in when they started to drift too far off, as opposed to a string the story was moving down.

McInerney deals with a lot of dark subjects - triggers warnings for pretty much everything - but I didn't feel completely put down by the way it explores these things. There's enough humour and wit in her prose that you can absorb everything and enjoy it as a novel even with these actually very graphic and violent acts. She respects the gravity they have (her story is crafted around them), but she knows how to make them readable too.

As we have multiple 'perspectives' and characters to follow in this book, I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to be following. We technically have a protagonist who turns up in everyone's stories, but every side characters' stories are just as important and interesting. I wouldn't mark it as a failing, but it did mean I didn't end up latching onto anyone that much. Then again, it's not a story with particularly likeable characters, and for good reason. We're much more in the position of a witness to these tapestry of meddlings and crimes and mistakes that become more and more tangled until the tension is at boiling point.

Since I wasn't sure what to expect going into this book I wasn't really disappointed at the end. I wasn't exactly impressed either. Actually, I don't have any particularly strong feelings about it if I'm honest. If you're into literary fiction following characters running somewhat in circles this might be up your alley, but for me it was a bit unmemorable.