Strange Flowers A Novel
Ratings3
Average rating4
15
Ratings3
Average rating4
AN POST IRISH BOOK AWARD NOVEL OF THE YEAR Longlisted for the Dublin Literary Awards “Mr. Ryan writes conspicuously beautiful prose… The fleeting happiness and abiding melancholy of the asymmetry, heightened by the intimately rendered surroundings, brings out Mr. Ryan’s most sensuous and emotive writing.” –The Wall Street Journal From the Booker nominated author of The Queen of Dirt Island, Donal Ryan's new novel follows the Gladney family across three generations seeking the true meaning of what it is to find home and love. In 1973, twenty-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home in Ireland and disappears. Bewildered and distraught, Paddy and Kit must confront an unbearable prospect: that they will never see their daughter again. Five years later, Moll returns from London. What - and who - she brings with her will change the course of her family's life forever. Beautiful and devastating, this exploration of loss, alienation and the redemptive power of love reaffirms Donal Ryan as one of the most talented and empathetic writers at work today.
Reviews with the most likes.
I'm so confused why none of these reviews talk about the casual racism that turned me off after 60 pages of it. I've looked at synopses online and I guess it turns into some kind of a tale of ‘olden times' seen as they were, which, cool, I just couldn't stomach getting through ‘darkie' to get there.
Set in 1970s rural Ireland, the Gladney family suffer a shock as their daughter Moll disappears. Five years later Moll returns but is reluctant to talk about where she has been. Strange Flowers is full of poetic melancholy, but also finds great beauty in everyday life.
