June meeting - The Glorious Heresies

The June meeting of the Low Fell Book Group was held on the 9th at Rosa Twelve, giving us an extra week to read the book. We had a large table upstairs where we discussed The Glorious Heresies by Lisa McInerney and received attentive service ordering drinks.

It's safe to say that this month's novel was quite a departure from the other books we've read since the group formed last year. While some members found it difficult to get past the swearing, others thought it served a purpose and thoroughly enjoyed it.

The biggest cheerleader for The Glorious Heresies was Anne Marie, who said: "If I was a writer and that was my first book, I would die a happy person."

While we all agreed it was not a difficult book to read, the themes were pretty intense. All of the characters seemed completely incapable of escaping the circumstances of their birth. This was despite the aspirations they had for themselves and the next generation.

Jeanette pointed out that chapter eight provided a small amount of relief from the setting of the rest of the book. As the character of Georgie finds herself by the lake, we are taken away from the lives of the underworld of Cork city, although it is not long before we are plunged right back in.

It was agreed that the dialogue was central to the book and that this was really well written. Because of the use of swear words, however, it's worth thinking carefully about who you recommend it to. It turns out there's a good mix of reading mothers and mothers-in-law who come down on either side of the bad language line!

Comment was made about the fact that many reviews said the novel was hilarious, while most of us found it quite sad. Anne Marie did say she found some of the bits with Maureen's character, such as when she worried about not having enough bleach to clean up the murder scene, funny.

Coincidentally, the day before our meeting, McInerney won the Baileys Prize for Fiction for Glorious Heresies. I don't think any of us were aware it was even shortlisted when we decided to read it.

Our founder Joanne was unable to make the meeting, as friends from New Zealand she hadn't seen in 12 years had stopped by. While she was missed, we all agreed this was a good excuse.

We gave The Glorious Heresies 4 stars out of 5 - the highest rating since we introduced the star system.

The next Low Fell Book Group meeting will be held on July 7th, with the book to be discussed The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies. The venue is yet to be decided.