Title: Say Nothing
By: Patrick Radden Keefe
Genre: Historical Non-Fiction
Pages: 441
Release Date: November 1st, 2018
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Summary from Goodreads:
In December 1972, Jean McConville, a thirty-eight-year-old mother of ten, was dragged from her Belfast home by masked intruders, her children clinging to her legs. They never saw her again. Her abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.
Patrick Radden Keefe writes an intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.
Review:
While the history and subject matter in Say Nothing are undeniably fascinating, I struggled to stay invested in the writing itself. Keefe presents a complex and important chapter of Northern Ireland’s past, and the real-life stakes are gripping, but the narrative style felt dense at times and made it hard for me to stay fully engaged. I appreciated learning more about the era, but the delivery didn’t quite hold my attention the way I hoped.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.