Summary | Excerpt | Reading Guide | Discuss | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:
Kim Kovacs
Buy This Book
Francesca McDonnell Capossela's wonderful debut, Trouble the Living, opens in Northern Ireland during the late 1990s—the waning days of "the Troubles." Eighteen-year-old Brid has a complex family life; her mother is an IRA supporter, while her father is a violent drunk. Each of them feels trapped in their marriage, and Brid and her siblings constantly navigate the hazards of their parents' volatile relationship. It's clear that Brid's mother sees her daughter as a younger version of herself, attempting to groom her into a future IRA partisan—a role Brid at first relishes but later comes to regret.
Fast-forward eighteen years, and Brid is now a mother herself, living in California with her fifteen-year-old daughter, Bernie. As the plotline shifts to Bernie's story, readers will identify parallels between the complicated dynamics in both timelines; Bernie...
BookBrowse's reviews and "beyond the book" articles are part of the many benefits of membership and, thus, are generally only available to subscribers, including individual members and patrons of libraries that subscribe.
Join Today
If you liked Trouble the Living, try these:
The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac
by Louise Kennedy
Published 2023
Brilliant, dark stories of women's lives by "a very major talent" (Joseph O'Connor, Irish Times)
by Michelle Gallen
Published 2022
A funny, fierce, and unforgettable read about a young woman working a summer job in a shirt factory in Northern Ireland, while tensions rise both inside and outside the factory walls.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
