BOOK OF THE WEEK
Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, this first novel portrays gritty daily life in Belfast and its environs. The tension between neighboring Catholics and Protestants is often escalated by seemingly random acts of violence. Cushla, a young elementary school teacher, lives with her alcoholic mother and helps occasionally at the bar owned by her older brother Eammon. The bar has its regulars, Catholics, but sometimes a Protestant wanders in.
One evening, barrister Michael Agnew, notices Cushla and strikes up a conversation which leads to involvement and then an affair. Michael is not only Protestant, but also married and considerably older. Theirs is a tender love story marked by absence, evasion, and affection.
Kennedy straightforwardly captures the small details in the setting. I found the first part a bit slow, but then the book gained momentum as one tragic event led to another. Kennedy grew up near Belfast and was a chef for almost 30 years before becoming a writer. Trespasses was the A Post Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year 2022 and also shortlisted for several other awards. It’s the first read from my summer list.
LIVE THEATER
Man of La Mancha (Asolo Repertory Theatre)
This run of Man of La Mancha has ended, but it was the all-time best production the Chief Penguin and I have enjoyed at the Asolo. This is not faint praise as the overall caliber of Asolo productions is always extremely high. The staging, the setting in a contemporary prison, the intricate choreography of fight scenes, the voices and sounds of actors and musicians, and the music itself combined for an engrossing performance. We were entranced! And hearing The Impossible Dream sung and then sung again two more times, we were uplifted. This play was a gift for our complex, polarized times.
