Overall, what did you think of Trouble the Living? (no spoilers)

Overall, what did you think of Trouble the Living? No spoilers in this thread, please

I absolutely loved this book. I particularly enjoyed how the author seamlessly led us between timelines and countries. I was immediately drawn to the characters, with all their flaws, transgressions and incredible challenges. The subtle shift between Brid and Bernie as narrators is genius and so effective in learning and understanding more about the characters and the story being told.

This dual-timeline novel is a family saga centered on the Irish Troubles in 1997/98 (in Ireland) and 2016(in the US). The two parts of the story take very different directions. In the 1997 segments we have Brid and her sister Ina, with Brid very centered on Irish political issues (thanks in part to her mother's involvement with the same)and her sister very much not. When Ina is killed by an British military hit attack on a dance club, Brid responds by joining the IRA and then fleeing to the U.S. when she realizes the implications of her actions. 20 years later, a single mother living in California, Brid must cope with her own daughter's rebellion. She deals with substantial amounts of depression and guilt, and her daughter Bernie is frustrated by her mother's refusal to tell her anything about her Irish past. There's a lot of emphasis on fraught Mother -daughter relationships in the book, generally tied in with guilt and fear on the part of the mother, and rebelliousness on the part of the daughter.

I felt the story line would have had a better flow in a straight-timeline format; jumping back and forth between Brid's and Bernie's POV did not work well for me. Some supporting characters were not well-integrated into the story, nor was the interplay between personal and political issues always smooth. Still, while I've read other books on the Irish Troubles I've liked better, this particular story dealt with the long term implications of both personal and political effects of the Irish situation in a fresh and useful way.

I found Trouble the Living to be a fine read. Capossela’s language might not rise to the level of elegance, but she certainly has talent in plotting the story and developing characters. Additionally, she was able to evoke atmosphere of the times beautifully. The change in time periods was a plus, to me, although some readers prefer a story with a continuous time line.

I tend not to read books with dysfunctional families as living with mine was hard enough. I was intrigued by this book though since living through war in Northern Ireland was far enough from my own experiences that I felt I could read it without bias. I’m so glad that I did. The seesaw between Brid’s chapters and Bernie’s were sometimes confusing but I was so interested in both women that I worked through it. Brid’s story especially is so filled with heartbreak, fear, regret, and then hope and resolve that I could not put her aside. My heart broke for Bernie’s struggles; her confusion about her love for her best friend, her difficult decision regarding her pregnancy, and her constant push and pull feelings for her mom. I was sad to end the book and my relationship with these two. I also learned so much about the Northern Ireland war and how conflicting feelings and the struggle of wanting peace but wanting a unified Ireland tore a country apart. This is a book for everyone to read.

I loved the book- particularly: the dual story line which helped draw the parallels between the different parts of the story, the writing style drew me in from the first sentence and the story itself or the stories- Brid’s and Bernie's.

This book would not receive a stellar review from me. Occasionally I laughed at the author's attempt to be "literary". Sometimes I cringed. Brief examples found in a 10-page span:: "fresh night air, like black velvet in my lungs" "the saltwater wave of absolute despair" "persistent as a corpse floating to the surface of a river" "a thread in the tapestry of chaos". What others might have found to be creative and poetic writing, I thought of as strained and artificial.
In addition, I simply did not enjoy the story. Not one, but two, anguished tales of depressing relationships between mother and daughter--nothing that I found enlightening or redemptive in any way.

I agree with laurap and teacher reader. The fact that the author shifts frequently between both timelines and character viewpoints took me out of the story a bit as it interrupted the "flow." And like teacher reader, I found that Capossela's attempts to be literary didn't work. It felt as if she was striving for lyrical writing but I often found her attempts clumsy and sometimes simply nonsensical.
In addition, I read a couple of other books recently with Irish ties and this one transported me the least of them. I also felt as if Brid the young woman and Brid the mother didn't always feel like the same character to me.

I didn't think that the author was trying to be "literary," she was simply channeling the voice of her teenage protagonist. At Bernie's age I was writing terribly overwrought poetry and using far too many adjectives in my prose -- so I related :)

People react to trouble in different ways. Aoife gets pregnant and marries - giving up her revolutionary dreams. Sean, her husband does the right thing but regrets it when he realizes she will never respect his lack of desire to be a revolutionary (despite his own experience with a British dentist) and so he drinks and rages.

Enda, the oldest son escapes to Donegal and marriage to a family that looks down on his. Brigid is targeted by her mother to be the family revolutionary, (or at the very least to protect her younger sister Ina - which she fails to do) and thus eventually takes on the revolutionary role much to her regret.

Ina just wants to enjoy whatever life there is - until there isn't life any more.

Tad the middle child feels abandoned by Enda, Ina and Bernie and resents them all.

Brigid takes on Ina's identity in some apparent attempt to assuage her guilt. Brigid gets pregnant. He offers an abortion. She refuses. They marry - she leaves him and tells Bernie, her daughter, that he died in the war.

Bernie gets pregnant (after being rejected by Mia) and has an abortion.

The "troubles" in the family seem meant to reflect the overall troubles of the war (thus the title), but it seems the family would have had the same problems (absent Ina's death and Brigid's subsequent IRA activity) in any case. It's doubtful Aoife would have had any more respect for Sean and would have felt just as constrained as a wife and mother (a role she didn't want.) And she still would have tried to remake Brigid in her own image.

And the dysfunction continued with Brigid and Bernie. However, it does seem at the end that these two are going to work through it to a better relationship.

I read this book as soon as it arrived and I often rate books depending upon how memorable they are after some time. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, I had forgotten most of the story. I did skim it a bit and these questions have helped me recall the plot and characters. So, given that, I will give it three stars out of five, which means I enjoyed it while reading it but the impact was slight upon me. There was nothing unique about the story line, the setting in Ireland was not very strongly built (I have been in the area in Belfast where there are still signs of the war on most buildings) and some things seemed a bit strange and forced such as Brid watching the bombing that may have been connected to her actions,

While I would not give this book a stellar review there was much to like about it. The author did a fine job of depicting the personal struggle of the characters as well as the intergenerational turmoil that results from living with guilt and secrets. The various subplots tended to takeaway from the main story rather than enhance it. While the novel was not specifically about Aoife, she was a powerful character who in many ways drove the plot.

Ritah makes a good point that I hadn't really thought about. I, too, read the books as soon as I get them. I, too, had to scan this one again to remember the story. For me, a really good book is one that touches me and remains with me.

For starters, I agree with rebajane that I don't like to read about dysfunctional families. It seemed like everyone had some cross to bear and it really polluted their relationships. From what I could tell, Ina was the only one who escaped having to wrangle her demons. Maybe her carefree nature was a protective shield.
This idea of generational trauma is really prevalent in literature these days and is illustrated so well here.

I struggled with the book. Took me a bit to settle into the 2 timeliness. Needed to take a short break because the book is so heavy, so many messed up lives. But I'm glad I stuck with it. It is well written. The author did an excellent job of portraying the characters and their lives. Beautiful descriptions of the countryside.

I really liked this book. The characters were well-developed. I thought the era in Irish history was explained in such a way that I was able to be in their shoes through many of their experiences. Beautifully written ... would recommend to my bookclub.

I enjoyed this novel. I appreciate the way it treated the Troubles without glorifying them. I felt that the characters were realistic and I was interested in their lives. The novel made me think about relationships and loyalties and would make for a great book club discussion.

I found the story line interesting at first but by the time I reached part 4 I just wanted to get this sad book finished. The author bought home the theme of how hatred is passed from generation to generation as well as hatred’s destructive force. I also thought she clearly showed the reader how actions can have lifelong consequences. Revenge may not be as sweet as we believe it to be.

Like Rita and Teacher Reader, I read the books when they arrive. Unfortunately, I was not able to remember the story to answer the questions on this site. I had to do a quick overview. From my notes: I found the story depressing and hard to read. At the same time, I was curious how the events would unfold. I grew up Catholic in Canada and it was hurtful to hear how the Catholic people were treated in Ireland in the late 90s.
One interesting aspect of the story was the use of the voices. In the "1997" chapters, Brid will talk about the events and her experience. In the "2016" chapters, we listen to Bernie expressing herself but we don't year the voice of Brid, not until she told Bernie her real name. Then Brid started to feel alive.

I for one really enjoyed the novel. It's funny, I didn't look at it as a book about the Troubles or about a dysfunctional family. I saw it more as a book about mother-daughter relationships, and how our mothers in particular can shape us in unexpected ways. I thought both storylines were very authentic-seeming; I particularly liked Bernie's story; I thought the author captured the teenage experience brilliantly - the confusion about identity and wanting to lash out when hurt seemed spot on to me.

I guess I like books with trouble and lots of dysfunction because I really liked this one. I did get lost a few times with the change in viewpoint but I thought it was an effective technique to tell this story. I knew very little about this war in Northern Ireland. The intriguing thing was the dysfunction in this family and how each family dealt with life differently. In particular, the mother, Aoife, seemed terribly focused on the conflict in Northern Ireland, while the father was mostly absent and unpleasant. It seemed Aoife seemed most destructive and cruel in her interactions with Brid. I would highly recommend this as a book club selection as there are so many topics to discuss.

I enjoyed this book very much, probably because I am second-generation Irish from four grandparents, so The Troubles have been a part of my family history my entire life. I agree with several readers that the switching narrative timeline got a bit confusing, except that I think the author did that to show how blended Brid and Bernie's lives were. From my understanding, the turbulence in Ireland has been messy and confusing and has split families and towns apart. I think this book did a great job of showing that.

If I had never read anything about the Irish troubles I would have enjoyed this book more. It could be enlightening and lead a reader into further investigation of that time. After reading Say Nothing, I read several articles about that time in Ireland. Comparing Say Nothing to the rendition of the factual background in this book was disappointing. The depth of the guilt Brid felt because of her actions just wasn’t convincing. The highlight was the manner in which Brid was recruited. Involving a teenager in these kinds of acts of terrorism was illustrated to be rather easy.

The mother-daughter relationships were odd and had little to do with the political turmoil whirling about them. Overall the book was readable and worth reading, but not in my top 10 for the year.

I truly enjoyed this book. Although it deals with difficult topics, it is so well written. The characters are complex and we get to know them in so many different ways.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I did enjoy the story and the characters but I did get confused at times with the constant switching between timelines and narrators. Normally I am fine with timeline switching but with a different narrator in the two timelines, both of which being told in the first person, I got confused about exactly who was telling that part of the story.

I thought the book came together in a meaningful way, but overall it was very dark. All the characters, even minor ones, were extremely troubled and depressed, which I find unrealistic. In real life, even very difficult times are occasionally interrupted by something positive, however small, or even just a kind remark from a stranger. I wanted something to break up all the darkness, but the whole story was so bleak. Also, some of the author's metaphors felt forced and overused, especially because the story is in the first person so it came across like the characters were noticing small details around them in a poetic way that was hard to believe. Overall, though, I'm glad I stuck with the story because the ending moved me, and I was glad to learn more about Northern Ireland.

I loved it! It gave me a better understanding of events that were occurring during that time. I love the characters and the relationships, in spite of the many flaws.

Lots of mixed reviews here! I'm in the camp of really liking it. At first I really wanted more of the Irish story but as the book progressed, Bernie's character grew on me.

Brid's mother is a hard one to have sympathy for, but I liked Brid and Bernie.

I also read this book as soon as I got it and had to reread it before posting, However, I have to say that I liked it even more the second time. I knew very little about The Troubles before reading it. Although the story was depressing, I was very invested in the characters and thought they were complex and well developed. I felt that the dual timeline worked well and felt, unlike some others, that that the writing was excellent...especially for a debut author. Ultimately, this is a book about family, mother-daughter relationships, secrets , and the effects they have on us. I would definitely recommend it as a bookclub read as there is so much to discuss.

I found this book very difficult to find its rhythm. It bounced back & forth between 2 story lines which did not enhance the story in the least to me. There was very little to nothing about the "Troubles" - it is mostly about a dysfunctional family - nothing original here. The major characters were poorly developed & the minor ones only made the story more difficult to enjoy.

I loved the book and it's dual narratives. I also loved that the title reflected more than the conflict in Northern Ireland, the troubles in the family. The family dysfunction continues throughout multiple generations.

I loved the book and the way it was written. I think the author did a really good job with this debut novel and would love to read more from her. The subject matter was fresh for me, and I think the best novels have conflict and dysfunctional families tend to be a mainstay in many stories, so I didn't find that off putting, as some readers did.