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Summary and Reviews of The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy

The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac by Louise Kennedy

The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac

Stories

by Louise Kennedy
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (13):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Dec 5, 2023, 304 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Dec 2024, 304 pages
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About This Book

Book Summary

Brilliant, dark stories of women's lives by "a very major talent" (Joseph O'Connor, Irish Times)

In these visceral, stunningly crafted stories by the author of the much-acclaimed Trespasses, women's lives are etched by poverty—material, emotional, sexual—but also splashed by beauty, sometimes even joy, as they search for the good in the cards they've been dealt.

A wife is abandoned by her new husband in a derelict housing estate, with blood on her hands. An expectant mother's worst fears about her husband's entanglement with a teenage girl are confirmed. A sister is tormented by visions of the man her brother murdered during the Troubles. A woman struggles to forgive herself after an abortion threatens to destroy her marriage. Plumbing the depths of intimacy, violence, and redemption, these stories are "dazzling, heartbreaking ... keen to share the lessons of a lifetime" (Guardian).

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Reviews

BookBrowse Review

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The stories are often bleak in concept and narrative. While this can make them tough going if consumed as a whole, many offer subtle glimmers of hope, be it through deadpan humor, hard won resilience, or hints of possible change to come. A couple of entries stand out as highlights: "Garland Sunday" and "Brittle Things." In the former, we look at the repercussions of a couple's decision to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. In the latter, we follow the mother of a non-speaking autistic child, as she attempts to simultaneously shield and nurture him in a world he finds overwhelming. To do so, she must navigate the frustrations of daily life, grapple with misplaced guilt, overcome her husband's denial about their son's condition, and face the constant pity of her friends and neighbors. Throughout the book at large, there is a sense of the weight held by words that go unspoken...continued

Full Review Members Only (597 words)

(Reviewed by Callum McLaughlin).

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Beyond the Book



Abortion in Ireland

Photo of crowd in London after repeal of abortion ban, with central focus on the back of a blue item of clothing reading 'Repeal' in white letters In 2018, in a culturally and historically significant move, the Irish public voted in favor of overturning the country's long-held ban on abortion, with more than 66% supporting the repeal. This victory for improving access to healthcare for millions was by no means an overnight success, however.

On the contrary, the fight to legalize abortion in Ireland was a long and arduous one. The procedure was first criminalized in 1861 with the Offences Against the Person Act, which forbid women from seeking to "procure a miscarriage." This law would see a sentence of life imprisonment handed to anyone who had or provided an abortion, or helped to provide access to one in any way.

In 1983, the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland...

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Read-Alikes

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