Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Winterwood - Patrick McCabe

Printed: London: Bloomsbury, 2006
Pages: 242




Summary (from Cover):
On a return to his home place in the mountainy middle of Ireland, Redmond Hatch meets old Pappie Strange, a fiddler and teller of tales whose honeyed words and giddy reels have persuaded the local mothers and fathers, anxious at the loss of traditional values, to bring their little lambs to his Saturday morning ceilidhs." "Once, in Kilburn, married to the sugar-lipped Catherine, and sharing his daughter Immy's passion for My Little Pony, with its enchanted kingdom of winterwood, Redmond was happy. But then infidelity, betrayal and the 'scary things' from which he would protect his daughter steal into the magic kingdom, and the bad things begin to happen. Now Redmond - once little Red - prowls the barren outlands alone, haunted by the disgraced shade of Ned Strange." "A shape-shifter, Red reinvents himself as Dominic Tiernan, builds a new life in TV, finds a new wife and begins to know domestic happiness once more. Then one day, in Dublin, he spies Catherine again.

Ian's Review:
Read - September 2007
Rank - 79/100

Thought I would follow our phone conversation with the rest of my thoughts now that I have finished Winterwood. Don't think we will compare notes though because I don't recommend the book! Brilliant structure, imagery and writing, but it is dark and reeks of madness and malevolence, coupled with sad vile deluded rationalising by the protagonist. I found it profoundly disturbing. Sorry, but strong words for a strong reaction!

Rach's Review:
Read - n/a
Rank - n/a

Given Ian's review and the world of amazing books out there that will entice me, I have decided to skip this one :)

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