The Glorious Heresies

Vibrant, visceral and violent, this profane tragicomedy takes you deep into the dark heart of Ireland's depressed port city of Cork. On the face of it, this tale of gangsters, prostitutes and addicts with no prospects other than criminality ought to be bleak and depressing, but McInerney is a promising writer capable of brilliantly fiery descriptions, and she really makes you care about her characters enough to make its resolution genuinely moving. She is also fearlessly iconoclastic, unafraid to take telling swipes at the church and its hypocrisies and explore the less palatable elements of Irish society.

The narrative is complex, and follows a group of characters who get entangled in the aftermath of a senseless death. I could say more show more about the characters and the plot, but a bare statement of the plot would not do justice to the quality of the writing. Ireland has a number of terrific young writers, and McInerney is among the best, for a debut novel this is extraordinarily powerful. show less

In a word . . . glorious. (And heretical.)

Lisa McInerney’s story of interconnected Irish lives over five years in the underbelly and criminal world of Cork isn’t merely a fine and clever debut novel, it’s easily one of the best novels I’ve read this year. This is dark, hilarious, and heartfelt stuff.

There’s something in her voice that reminds me of Roddy Doyle at his Barrytown best. There’s the obvious Irishness they share, of course, but it’s more than that: it’s their ability to create a fully realized fictional community populated by honest, complex characters whose lives swirl around each other in everyday and eventful ways. We see friends, enemies, drinking companions, criminals, neighbors, and family members – show more all finding their way in the same world together, stuck with each other for better and for worse. And, like Doyle, McInerney also has a gift for writing wry, pitch-perfect dialogue.

But for all the tenderness and warmth she portrays her characters with, there’s no sentimentality. These are characters who have been profoundly damaged and who live very tough lives. And yet we can’t help caring about them, warts and all. There are no false notes or easy compromises. We’re kept constantly off balance and, like the characters themselves, we’re never quite sure where their lives are headed.

It’s no easy thing to create multi-dimensional, real characters who are alternately smart and stupid, tough and soft, impatient and relaxed, stubborn and forgiving, and so on. But what I really like is that her other characters see each other differently at different times. And that’s real life, right? We’re not the same person in every situation over time. Others view us differently. We change, grow, regress, make mistakes, get things right. This, to me, is absolutely essential to good fiction, and McInerney gets it just right. Consider Tony, an alcoholic and unemployed widower who abuses his oldest son. Yes, we see him enraged and violent, but we also see him as a tender and loving father who manifestly cares for his children and mourns his dead wife. Sometimes he’s a criminal, but he mostly wants to do the right thing. I love this passage, which gets at some of that complexity (and also shows just how funny McInerney often is):

“An effervescent liar from the phone company had sold Tony a broadband subscription, which had had the effect of lobotomizing his three teenagers and giving him the cold comfort of meditative silence. Once a week Kelly commandeered the laptop and went through the jobs website with her father, and between them they figured out which posts were worth procuring rejection letters from. Sometimes he got an email back that thanked him for his efforts but denied the existence of suitable positions. When he was so blessed he showed them to his probation officer. The job hunt was going well.”

The novel isn’t perfect and it’s not without faults (the coincidences of the characters’ interwoven encounters can seem a bit much at times; some loose ends are left hanging; we’re teased with some things that are never fully developed). But never mind that. This is confident, beautifully crafted fiction. I can’t wait to see what the author does next. . . .

(Thanks to Crown/Tim Duggan Books for an advance copy via a giveaway. Receiving a free copy did not affect the content of my review.) show less

This debut novel by an Irish blogger (“Arse End of Ireland” is the name of her blog) takes place in the city of Cork. It took me a bit to get into the cadence of this voice of this book before it sang for me. And it’s dark . . . very dark . . . and violent. It’s also darkly funny; the creative cursing is mind-boggling -- and I’m no prude (if you took out all of the f-bombs, it would be about 50 pages lighter, just sayin’).

But. This book. McInerney is a brilliant writer. These characters are so real and well drawn. She does a masterful job of seeing characters from all points of view. And, the way she is able to write the Irish dialect without completely re-spelling every word is just perfect. Once you get the hang of it, show more you can hear every word. I understand she has a two-book deal. I’m already looking forward to the next one. Highly recommended. show less

I loved this winner of the 2016 Bailey's Prize. Its complex and exquisite characters are all connected in one way or another with the murder which opens the book. Grandmother Maureen Phelan has just (accidently?) bashed in the head of an unidentified intruder. She calls her son, Jimmy Phelan, Cork crime gang boss, to clean up the mess. He enlists the help of Tony Cusack, a small-time criminal existing on the fringe of Cork's criminal underground trying to raise his children after the death of his wife and while battling an alcohol problem. Tony's oldest son, teenager Ryan, is also a major character as he edges toward a life of crime moving into adulthood. Much of the book deals with his loving relationship with Karine, his girlfriend. show more Other major characters are Georgie, a former prostitute and drug addict who joins a religious cult after her boyfriend mysteriously disappears, and Tara Duane, Tony Cusack's next door neighbor and nemesis, who is also involved in criminal activities of her own.

The book is dark, for sure, but it is also humorous and touching. It's morally complex, and despite their foibles I was rooting for these people, especially Ryan. McInerney wonderfully depicts her cast of characters--from 70ish Maureen to teenagers Ryan and Karine--and pulls together the dark issues of alcohol and drugs, child abuse and prostitution, poverty and crime. Just don't expect a happy ending.

4 stars show less

For a totally horrifying, depressing look at the underbelly of Cork, Ireland, this was great. As a study of how a pretty decent kid can be totally fucked up by his situation, it's excellent.

When an older lady bludgeons an intruder with a religious icon, it causes a ripple effect through a group of people living on the fringes of society: her crime king son, his alcoholic old friend, the friend's impressionable teenage drug-dealing son, their leacherous neighbor, and a drug-addicted prostitute. These ripples will lead to more murders and crimes, rehab, prison, and a religious cult.

This is dark drama with a touch of Irish humor. Ms. McInerney made me really feel for her characters -- even the truly despicable ones. There's a sequel show more featuring Ryan Cusack (the aforemenioned teen drug-dealer), but I don't know if I can handle more of the heartbreak, especially since reviews indicate that the sequel focuses more on the crime/gang world of Cork and lacks the dark humor of the first book. show less

I was thinking that I would probably avoid this novel if it wasn't shortlisted (it was). My takeaway from the reviews was that it was a dark read, full of violence and obscenities
It is full of both but (for me at least) McInerney places these things in the context of characters who feel very real.

Set in modern day Cork city, an elderly woman surprises a burglar and kills him. Because her son is the local underworld boss, he makes the body disappear. Only one person is looking for the missing person, but Cork city is small and soon paths overlap. Between the voices of a young sex worker trapped in drugs, a young man dealing and trying to hold onto his legit girlfriend in the face of her parents' dislike of their relationship, and the show more boy's father trying to hold on to being sober, the consequences of the murder spiral over the years.

I'm not sure why this book was described as particularly dark - compared to some crime reads it is quite tame. There is plenty of sex and drugs but there is also people making difficult choices, trying to be good parents, trying to be clean in a post-Tiger economy. Like Roddy Doyle, she has a wonderful ear for Irish family life, the kids puncturing their parents' egos, the schoolkids mocking their teachers, friends chatting over a pint.

Highly recommended. show less

Maureen speaks with the wisdom and bluntness of her 59 years and experience of having her out-of-wedlock baby taken from her and being banished from her Cork, Ireland, home to London. Young Jimmy tries to make amends by bringing her back home setting her up in one of the closed-down brothels he owns. They have a love-hate relationship but she knows who to call when there is an intruder and she knocks him in the head with her Holy Stone. This unintentional killing leads to a tangled web of cover-ups and further mayhem among several of the seedier residents of Cork whose lives of crime and poverty interact in strange ways.

I usually don't enjoy books filled with sex and swear words. However, they were an integral part of life for the show more mobsters, alcoholics, drug dealers, and prostitutes who were the focus of this debut novel. This is a book about morality, although most of the compassion and forgiveness comes from those who have sinned rather than the saints of the Catholic church or religious cults. Much of the tragic comedy comes from the "religious" vignettes: ''Oh, Father. I know I'm sorry. What about you? Bless me, Ireland, for I have sinned. Go on, boy. No wonder you say Holy God is brimming with the clemency; for how else would any of you bastards sleep at night?''

This is a messy book. There are many scenes where I wanted to turn my head yet, despite the occasional repulsion, I found I cared for the underlying problems that gave these afflicted characters little hope to better themselves. It is sad to read how much pain we can inflict on our fellow man and how much pain society as a whole should feel more responsibility for. Thank you, Ms. McInerney, for showing us the humanity of people struggling to survive the spiral of child neglect, drug abuse, and the myriad effects of deteriorating communities. show less