What do readers think of A Beautiful Loan by Mary Costello? Write your own review.

" Later, I will identify the moment he uttered those words in Irish as the moment that came to shape my life". Anna is her name. She is the protagonist of this unfolding story set in Dublin, Ireland 1985. She is a teacher, nineteen years old and in love with the much older Peter. They begin spending time together and when he is gone, she feels totally miserable and alone. She sobs, she yearns for him . She ask herself: "Is this love or torture "? Yet, she has never lived so intensely or feel so alive. Peter leaves on weekends to be with his hiking club buddies.

Anna feels rejected repeatedly and is convinced she is addicted to the extreme feelings she is experiencing. Her longing leads to marriage , bereavement and a shattering betrayal. Peter does not want to be married anymore ….His words sting - " I stare at him registering the word- its clotted sound". After lost pregnancies and being inflicted with STD from him she reckons the marriage must end.

She falls in love with a Muslim man, only to find herself once again seeking validation and salvation in another. She finds herself embracing Islam, albeit at a price. She is told by him all the books she reads, the activities she enjoys , even her dog Boo is all haram. She misses her life, her family , she feels impoverished.

I loved the characters in this engrossing novel; they are relatable along with their shortcomings. We all have Anna's and Peters in our lives. I go as far to say , that good literature meets us where we are and we can be those characters. I give this novel five stars for its brutal honesty on the human psyche; our highs, lows, insecurities and everything in between. Intimate, yet piercing, Costello's prose makes one flinch and recoil and hopefully emerge stronger while breaking free from emotional impoverishment.

Mary Costello's book, A Beautiful Loan, is the story of Anna Hughes from Dublin Ireland. Starting in 1985 it covers 25 years of her life, and beautifully and authentically captures growing into oneself. Although Anna has many challenges, and doesn't make good choices at times, she feels "real" in that her range of thoughts and emotions are complex, tentative, greedy, beautiful, mature, immature, and conflicting. Mary captures what it often feels like to be a young woman. If you like beautiful writing, characters and situations that feel true, and a good growing into yourself story, give A Beautiful Loan a chance.

Anna falls for two totally different men in this book - first the much older Peter, who she eventually marries. Peter is not an attentive husband, but that's okay with Anna who lives much of her life in her mind and in her favorite literature. But then it all falls apart.
Anna's second love is a much more attentive man, Karim, who also introduces Anna to his Muslim faith. She feels she has finally found mutual love and peace, or has she? Anna then turns her feelings of love toward herself to discover who she really is and what she really wants in her life.

A Beautiful Loan is a powerful and introspective novel that follows Anna Hughe's life over several decades as love and loss and quietly shape who she becomes. Mary Costello focuses on her inner life with writing that is thoughtful, restrained and emotionally precise. I like Anna because her character had depth and showed human flaws. Costello's work showed compassion.

It is challenging to be very positive about a novel when virtually every character (except the dog!) is so exasperating! Anna is such an empty vessel of a person and her lack of self-worth/spine became tiresome and infuriating. The male characters were unlikable in different ways, but both were manipulative, self-centered and toxic .

I found the multiple references to Camus, Jung and 'individuation' rather intrusive and distracting; but I am sure others will find it meaningful. Despite these negative comments, I was compelled to read to the end and was somewhat satisfied with the conclusion. I would hesitate to make a strong recommendation for this title, though I am not sorry to have read it.

Set in Dublin in the 1980's, Anna Hughes meets Peter, an older man. The relationship progresses to eventual marriage, yet all the while, Peter seems only partially interested in Anna, spending much time away pursuing his own interests.When the relationship finally ends, Anna meets Kamir, and quickly falls in love. She immerses herself in his Muslim faith. It seems she continually bends herself to adapt to the men with whom she is involved. I found Anna likable, yet I was frustrated by her inability to free herself from these loves that obviously were not in her best interest.

I found the novel by Mary Costello very interesting. First I love the cover. It made me very interested in this book. I have gone back and forth about how I feel about this book. I liked Anna Hughes but I felt like she was a very weak person and was looking for herself. She was so dependent on feeling love and companionship with the men she was involved with in her life. Peter was very open about his sexual endeavors. She was insecure in how she felt about her feelings in this open relationship. He put his needs (mountain climbing) before her needs. Karim was interesting. I enjoyed learning about the Islamic religion. Again, Anna tried to please him by surrounding herself with the Islamic religion. I think she did this to please him and believing their relationship would be better and more secure. Anna realized the Islamic religion wasn't for her. Finally, she stands up for her beliefs! To justify my next statement I must be clear I am a dog lover and love all animals. Abuse of animals is not acceptable by me. I would have ushered Karim to the door when he made Boo sleep outside in the cold. His treatment of Boo was mental abuse of Anna and that is not acceptable for anyone. I was frustrated throughout the book because Anna allowed people to walk all over, the book was very depressing to me. Costello delivered gut-wrenching feelings remarkably. it was very well written. For me it was just too depressing.

Anna has obsessive feelings for an older man, Peter, that makes the reader partly angry and partly sympathetic to what love should be. As a reader, I had to find out if Anna had the strength to see the unfaithful man for whom he was. Five years later, she then falls in love with Karim, of Muslim faith, devotes herself to Islam, and its teachings. The author does a wonderful job of capturing this intense relationship to the point, again, of Anna's intense feelings sacrificing her past beliefs, family, and love of her dog. It's admirable that Mary Costello respectfully taught the reader about the Muslim religion and rituals while having the character sway her true feelings about living a simple life. Ms, Costello is showing the deep thoughts of a sensitive, uncertain, yet inquiring life. Her writing gripped me in a way that I keep thinking about and wondering about falling in love with someone who is dogmatic and not willing to consider her feelings.