Helpful Score: 1
Although I suppose I could read just about anything by William Trevor and enjoy the lovely descriptions of the Irish countryside, the windswept coast, and the people who live in the big houses and little villages, I have to say that this novel was a bit of a disappointment because the story itself just didnt ring true. As usually happens when I read one of Trevors novels I kept wanting to flip ahead and find out what was going to happen and in this case, I was curious about what would happen to 8 year old Lucy Gault in the violent summer of 1921 after her protestant parents had made the hasty decision to flee their country home because of what the IRA was doing to other Anglo-Irish landowners in the area. But as the story unraveled I couldnt help feeling like I was being drawn into an impossible situationsomething so farfetched that it simply wouldnt have happened in real life. Or if it did, the people involved would have certainly made different decisions which of course would have changed the course of the story. In fact, you might say that this novel is actually about the decisions people make and the effect those decisions have on the way their lives and the lives of those around them. It's also a disquieting commentary on how quickly lives can be changed forever simply because of chance encounters and accidental incidents that result in tragic consequences.
