Michael Magee (4)

The struggle against poverty is reminiscent of Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart except set in Belfast instead of Glasgow. Sean Maguire is a young man who has completed an English literature degree and returned to Belfast only to find nothing has changed. He has a mouldy flat (although rent-free) and a bartender job in a rough bar. Not a pleasant life by any standards. It is strange that after completing an education away from Belfast, he returned to rejoin old mates and their abject lifestyle. show more I imagined he would have learned how to move on, or was his lack of enthusiasm really laziness, an easy way out. I can almost understand how he can sink into the seedy, undemanding lives of his friends, but I still don’t buy it. Magee’s writing is excellent, he is able to take the reader into Sean’s life. Bleak, profane, a bit over-the-top, but a good yarn. show less

After finishing this book I saw Belfast through different eyes, Sean and Mairéad are vividly real and it’s easy to become emotionally invested. A real page turner.