Random House UK, Vintage Publishing, Harvill Secker
General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction
20 Aug 2020
4/5
Netgalley
Have to find the right person first 😉
Sinéad Hynes is a tough, driven, funny young property developer with a terrifying secret.
No-one knows it: not her fellow patients in a failing hospital, and certainly not her family. She has confided only in Google and a shiny magpie.
But she can’t go on like this, tirelessly trying to outstrip her past and in mortal fear of her future. Across the ward, Margaret Rose is running her chaotic family from her rose-gold Nokia. In the neighboring bed, Jane, rarely but piercingly lucid, is searching for a decent bra and for someone to listen. Sinéad needs them both.
As You Were is about intimate histories, institutional failures, the kindness of strangers, and the darkly present past of modern Ireland. It is about women’s stories and women’s struggles. It is about seizing the moment to be free.
Feeny is Irish and writes in an Irish dialect. I understand where she’s coming from and where she wants to go, there’s just one but: English is my 2nd language and the dialect is just too hard every now and then LOL.
Nevertheless, I was able to follow the story and enjoy her writing style. It’s funny, emotional, original, and beautiful! Can I give less than 5 stars? Yes, I can but won’t!
