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A Novel
by Helen Cullen
Book Reviewed by:One Irish family. Three decades. One dazzling story.
In the courtyards of Trinity College, Dublin, in 1978, aspiring actress Maeve meets pottery student Murtagh Moone. As their relationship progresses, marriage and motherhood come in quick succession, but for Maeve, with the joy of children also comes the struggle to hold on to the truest parts of herself.
Decades later, on a small Irish island, the Moone family are poised for celebration but instead are struck by tragedy. Each family member must find solace in their own separate way, until one dazzling truth brings them back together. But as the Moone family confront the past, they also journey toward a future that none of them could have predicted. Except perhaps Maeve herself.
Paperback original
Cullen makes the decision to begin the novel in the present with a tragedy that seems like it should be an ending, followed by flashbacks of events leading up to it. Without the burden of wondering how the story will end, the reader is able to reflect on both the subtle and obvious progressions of mental illness and on the various ways people choose to protect themselves from the pain of watching a loved one struggle. Using prose that is at once graceful and unassuming, Cullen describes physical landscapes as poetically as she does the internal landscapes of her characters. Readers will find themselves falling in love with the Irish seaside, the moody skies and the stony pathways alongside the beautiful but tragic lives of Maeve, Murtagh and their four very different children...continued
Full Review
(702 words)
(Reviewed by Nichole Brazelton).
Inis Óg, the island home of the Moone family in The Dazzling Truth, might be a fictional location, but exploring the real small coastal islands of Ireland can offer an idea of what it would be like to live where the characters do. Well-known examples include the Aran Islands, three limestone islands known individually as Inis Mór (Inishmore), Inis Meáin (Inishmaan) and Inis Oírr (Inisheer). With their total population hovering at around one thousand, the islands are sparsely inhabited by humans but boast a wide variety of flora and fauna.
The least populated of the Islands, and likely the closest representation of the fictional Inis Óg, is Inis Meáin, which has around 200 residents. Residents still ...
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An extremely moving read. Helen Cullen handles the complexities of love, grief, family life and mental illness with sensitivity and depth. A truly gorgeous novel.
