Peter Cunningham (1) (1947–)

'Consequences of the Heart' is a love story, a war story, a generational story of two Irish families and an unlikely friendship that lasts over the course of six decades.

Chud Conduit (sometimes known as Chud Church) is the wild, illegitimate grandson of Monument's most successful businesswoman. He's a cad, has a gambling addiction, a chronic inability to keep his hands off other men's wives or be faithful to his own.

Chud's life is inextricably tied with those of his unlikely childhood show more friends, Jack Santry and Rosa Bensey. Jack is the Anglo-Irish heir to the largest landowner in the town whilst Rosa is the beautiful daughter of the local bookmaker. In 1938, whilst they are still teenagers a tragic event will define the rest of their lives, although the full truth is not revealed until the last page.

Chud and Jack (following in the Santry family tradition of wartime service) join the British Army and together are part of the invading force on D-Day. On the first morning of the assault Jack's defining moment occurs -- one that, again, does not become clear until later in the story. Both survive the war physically unharmed and in peacetime continue along with Rosa a sometimes difficult but always evolving friendship.

The story begins with Chud's grandfather in the 1890's and concludes in 2000, the year after Jack's grand-daughters wedding. Cunningham introduces a string of characters, particularly early on in the tale, most come and go, but Chud, Jack, and Rosa are the constants. The novel covers a lot of ground and is rich in detail, the pace is often languid but there are times (particularly on D-Day and near the end) when the action is intense and dramatic. Even at its slowest, I never found the story dull.

Family conflicts and buried secrets are pretty familiar ground for novelists, but here Cunningham makes it feel fresh and original. No matter how much I wanted to dislike Chud-- I found it impossible to do so, I even ended up empathizing with him, "if you land at dawn on the shore of a continent and actually take it by force, you are inclined ever afterwards to doubt the merits of caution."

My main quibble however, concerns Jack's daughter-in-law, Brigid, who inexplicably holds a grudge against Chud over an incident that occurred before she was even born. Her ultimate actions just didn't feel credible, although they did make me smile.

This is an odd story about three people who followed their natures and formed a lifelong friendship, if an unconventional one, and on the whole one I thoroughly enjoyed. show less

I don’t remember how this book came to my attention, but I’m glad it did. It’s an understated gem.

Alex Smyth grew up in Ireland but has spent his adult life in Canada; now he and his wife Kay have retired to the Muskoka region of Ontario. One day he receives a letter which unsettles him and stirs up vague childhood memories. He returns to Ireland looking to find out what he has forgotten because his memory “’has big holes in it.’” That trip involves a visit with his estranged show more father. Surely, Alex didn’t murder someone when he was seven years old, as he suspects?

The book examines sexual abuse and the long-lasting effects of childhood trauma. Kay, a psychotherapist, tells Alex, “’When we are young we often have encounters that leave us deeply marked.’” More than one character in the novel “has spent his adult life suffering wounds inflicted in his childhood.”

The novel captured my interest immediately. What will Alex discover in Ireland? While Alex is away, leaving Kay and their young grandson at home, Kay must deal with a man who is paying them untoward attention. Are they in danger? The chapters are short and so tension builds quickly.

Several of the chapters include descriptions of the life of a trout and the skills needed for fly fishing. These brief passages serve as a metaphor for what is happening: “the trout’s greatest enemy is man” and “Fly fishing allows man to revert to his state of being a natural hunter and to stalk his quarry . . . Fly fishing allows man to act out an elemental part of the forest glade that lies within us all.” A description of night time fishing is juxtaposed with an episode where a man takes a couple of boys fishing at night. When a friend compliments that man on his fishing skills (“’Is there no fish in the county safe from you?’”), the comment has a double meaning that is truly frightening.

The book is narrated in the first person by Alex. My issue is that several times he seems to know more than he plausibly could about what others are thinking and doing. For instance, Alex describes Kay: “She wishes she could see clearly into my soul, for even though she once trusted me, now she is not so sure. Everyone has secrets, she reflects.” Three times, Alex explains that he knows his wife’s thoughts because “she will later say” something to him about them, but this approach is awkward.

The ending delivers a punch that will leave the reader re-evaluating all that went before. I am certain the book would reveal more depths on a second reading.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski). show less

Alex Smyth is living in Canada with his wife when he receives a strange piece of mail containing only a trout fly. Alex has always thought that something terrible had happened when he was a child but the memory is always just a bit past his grasp. Memories now start coming back and he starts to believe that he may have killed someone when he was a child. He must return to Ireland to confront his past and get to the bottom of these fragmented memories.

This is one of the most beautifully show more written books I’ve read in a long time. I’m adding Peter Cunningham to my list of all-time favorite authors and will be reading the rest of his books soon. This book grabbed my heart and wouldn’t let go nor could I put the book down. It was completely mesmerizing and awakened my love for truly well-written literature. I read a lot of books but far too many pass through me without much lasting effect. This is one that I will treasure and always remember.

The book touches on how elusive memories can be and how they can harm our lives if not brought to the surface. It also touches on how society can convince itself that what they’re seeing isn’t actually happening. This book is set in such a beautiful location with valleys and hills and rivers and streams and yet what happened there is so tragic and heart breaking. Predator and prey dominate this story and the author has included short snippets about trout and their lives and their most dangerous predator – man. It’s a perfect accompaniment for this story that centers on horrific events that take place while fishing.

Most highly recommended.

This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review. show less

4+ A quiet but meaningful story about a past that haunts, affecting the present. Alex Smyth, now living in Ontario, Canada has written a book detailing the relationship between he and his father, a man he has not spoken to in many years. A blank sheet of paper is delivered in an envelope, but what freaks him out is it includes a trout fishing fly. Many years ago, and after his mother's death he was raised by his father, the local doctor, and he and his father would often go fishing, show more sometimes in the company of the village priest. They lived in a small village in Dublin then and he is haunted by something that happened when he was seven, something he doesn't remember but often gets glimpses of, a feeling that he was involved in the death of a man.. His marriage buckling under the strain, he makes the decision to journey back to Dublin, to his past and try to reconnect the pieces of his memory.

A simply written but beautifully described novel, the depictions of nature so incredibly beautiful, set against a horrible conspiracy of silence. What happened to a young boy in that village, many young everywhere and those who knew but our equally guilty by their silence, the scope of which is still being uncovered today. Incidents in the past that we little remember or need to forget to move on, but can still rear it's ugly head when we least expect it. As Kay says n the novel, "It takes a whole lifetime to come to terms with what we have hidden as children." Throughout the novel there are various excerpts about trout, how they feed, where they go, the many different colors they are, and if one reads carefully they can see how perfectly this blends into the story being told.

I was touched, and appalled because I know much of this, is based on truisms. Written in a very understated manner, highlighting the kind of culture that exists, those who look away instead of confronting, failing to protect the innocent and how these type of situations and others can occur again and again in different circumstances, different places.

ARC from publisher. show less