Lagan

by Stacey Gregg

Ten lives flow through the city of Belfast, like the river Lagan, and yet everyone feels somehow out of place in their own hometown. Lagan is a thrilling kaleidoscope of stories from post-Troubles Belfast, penned by one of Ireland's most exciting young writers.

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 11, 2012

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

This uses a theatrical device I detest - namely, the characters all articulate their inner thoughts and their actions; there are very few conventional dialogue scenes. For example: Anne: "What'll people think? Of Anne? (Gasp.) there goes Joan McKenna used to clean Mum's nursing home, looked straight at me, probably thinking 'he's awful long hair' - I did my best! Shove my white-chocolate raspberry muffin in my mouth./ Eat, Stir, Deflect, Push on!").

And as you can see, it strives for a lyrical poeticism it only rarely achieves. Plus, there is an obnoxious 8-year-old character (to be played by an adult actor) that is just too twee for words. Yuck.