Book Review: Ruth Gilligan's "The Butcher's Blessing"
This year I've made it a priority to read more work written by writers from The Republic of Ireland, so it was only natural for me to request Ruth Gilligan's newest novel The Butcher's Blessing. Gilligan's newest novel will be released on 10 November (2020). I've loved most of the writing from Irish authors that I've read. Reading so much from Irish writers has been an incredible reading journey, and Gilligan's novel has added to the richness of it!
Below is the review I posted on NetGalley:
The novel started off slowly for me. However, that wasn't the fault of the story; I wasn't giving it my full attention.
Gilligan's novel is told from multiple perspectives. My only complaint about the multiple POVs is that sometimes I wanted to read more from a specific character's perspective. I found myself really enjoying the bildungsoman storylines from Davey and Una. Since I'm not usually interested in coming-of age stories, this was a pleasant surprise for me! I thoroughly enjoyed Davey and Una's determination and unwillingness to conform to gender norms.
One of the other aspects of the novel that I found engrossing was the relationships that the characters had with each other. They're deep, messy and complex. Set against the backdrop of actual events that happened in Ireland (thank goodness I'd done some more research on Irish history!), I felt that the characters were of a place and time that are still alive in the Irish psyche today. While visiting Ireland, you could see, hear and feel remnants of certain moments in history. It's interesting how Gilligan captures the paradox of Ireland's modernity as it exists inside of a staunch mindset that permeates an unwillingness to change...Although as we're seeing (globally), this isn't only the case in Ireland.
I found myself lost in Gilligan's storytelling and have plans to read more from her backlist in the near future, because the connection to place and land in her novel was so poignant in comparison to other novels I've read but haven't felt a connection to (with the exception of both Kevin Barry's Night Boat to Tangier and Dorothy Macardle's Dark Enchantment).
I would highly recommend Ruth Gilligan's The Butcher's Blessing to book lovers of Irish literature, bildungsroman stories or those who love to get lost in a tangle of love, loss and hope.
Many thanks to Tin House Books for kindly letting me read and review an ARC of Gilligan's novel.
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