The Lost Souls' Reunion
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
On a lonely hill in rural Ireland, overlooking the gray sea, sits the solid, unforgiving Moriarty home, Solas. After the departure of her grown son, Sive, the Storyteller, is alone in the house for the first time in years. She bathes, dresses in long flowing robes, and sweeps from room to room, calling together the souls of her family's past. As they all gather around the fire, Sive lays out her tarot cards and prepares to tell their stories.
From the magical landscapes of coastal Ireland to the grotesque bustle of sixties London, Sive gives the history of her grandmother, her mother, and herself. She traces the path of her grandmother's cruel and unbearable marriage to her mother's wild escape to London, and, finally, to her own return to the family home. Each woman endures the hardship of being poor and uneducated, and of becoming involved with the wrong men. Their lives are difficult and harsh; and yet, in their own ways, they are able to draw on their inner strength to help each other have a better life.
Beautifully written with the Irish flare of weaving in a touch of magic, Suzanne Power's The Lost Souls' Reunion is the story of a mother's love for her child, a woman's love for her man, and a family's love for their land.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Power's debut novel about an impoverished Irish family includes all the usual cast members the alcoholic, brutish husband; the unloved and unloving wife; the pregnant teenage daughter but her writing has such force and clarity that the story is gripping. On the unyielding sea coast of Ireland, Joseph Moriarty spends his life trying to farm a small patch of inhospitable soil. He takes out his frustration in drink and mercilessly beats his wife, Noreen. It's all Noreen can do to protect her daughter, Carmel, from her husband's rage. Carmel, who lives an almost animal existence outdoors trying to evade her father, winds up pregnant by local boy Eddie Green, who, though sweet and protective, isn't brave enough to be seen in public with "the slow Moriarty girl." Noreen scrapes together enough money to send Carmel to London, but without any resources she ends up a Soho prostitute. She miscarries, gets pregnant again by her pimp and gives birth to a daughter named Sive, who is raised mostly by an older prostitute. Sive eventually takes her sick, aging mother back home to Ireland, where she comes to grips with the bitter history of the Moriarty house. It's Sive who narrates the tale of these three generations. Her dramatic tone and habit of apostrophizing her late relatives won't be to everyone's taste ("You were a fine, strong woman, Noreen, with a ready laugh! But you enjoyed life too much, that's what they said"), but Power ably handles the searing material; it is, alas, always believable.
