Genre: Contemporary Fiction | Literary Fiction
Release Date: Expected 22nd June 2023
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
"The Rachel Incident. The idea of being a figure in their lives, the same way they were phantoms in mine."
Rachel has her life together; happily married, expecting her first baby, a successful journalist for a newspaper for Irish expats in England. But when she hears that her former professor, the man she was rumoured to have a clandestine affair with in college is in a coma, she reflects back to the days she'd tried to leave in the past. The days she was obsessed with Dr Byrne and their live became inexplicably entwined in ways they'd never imagined. The days that led up to the incident.
The very incident that has followed everyone involved to this very day.
"I still thought I was the centre of this story, the main character, just because it had started that way."
I absolutely adore O'Donoghue's writing - and this is no exception - razor sharp, clever and exceptionally entertaining.
This raw and emotional story delves into the strange truth that we are often a sum of the people we meet - we take on their mannerisms, we mirror things we love about them, we are hurt and hardened, and sometimes we create our entire self around them. She looks at the powers of sexuality, desire and desperation and how they affect us.
Rachel was an intriguing character - she meanders in her narration, taking her time, thinking and reflecting into the past. At first I thought the erratic, non-linear, irreverent style of storytelling would be difficult to follow but instead every single quirk and strange thought made Rachel very endearing and interesting. She was painfully self-aware, although sometimes retroactively - she looked back and saw the bad choices she made, the absurdity of trying to be an adult as a teenager, and the strange things we do from desperation. She was bold and beautiful, and I loved her even in her worst moments.
Her relationship with her best friend James was compelling to see - they were in sync, soulmates, but almost unhealthily so at times. Their lives were merged together so complexly it was hard to sometimes tell them apart. James wasn't always the best friend, he was human and made terrible choices that would ripple throughout both of their lives and we follow both of them as they grow up, try to find themselves, fail and try again.
I love how Caroline's Irish heritage always shines through in her writing - it's something I always love to read about. I have Irish family but don't call myself Irish as I know nothing about that part of my history so this always me happy. But aside from that, she also never shies away from the harsher sides of history; showing the societal class divides, prejudice and troubled times that aren't too far in the past. It raises such critical points about the importance of safe access to reproductive healthcare and the difference that privilege can have in every part of our lives.
This is a story about love, but it isn't a love story. It's messy, painful, confusing and chaotic - showing the many different ways love can come in and leave our life.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.
cw: homophobia, abortion, recession, coma, miscarriage, cheating, toxic relationships.
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