Dear Readers,
Flannery O’Connor said, “I write to discover what I know.”* What about extending this idea to reading? I read to discover what I know.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch is set in Dublin, Ireland, now, or in the near future. It’s about Eilish, a scientist and a busy mother of four. She’s trying to fit her job around the school run, renewing passports for a trip, and getting the baby to bed.
One night, there’s a knock at the door.
It’s the newly formed secret police. They want to speak to Eilish’s husband, Larry, who works for the teacher’s union. Soon, Larry is arrested, but Eilish doesn’t know where he is taken. This is the story of an unraveling — of a woman, a family, a life, a city, and a country. It’s the story of tyranny taking hold.
I interviewed the author, Paul Lynch, at the Toronto Reference Library recently. He said his book isn’t about a grievance with the world; it’s a book about grief.
The story takes place on a personal level. Eilish, as a mother, has to make difficult choices in the face of politics that have spun beyond her control.
This book is timely. It takes on many of the things that are concerning about the world right now — surveillance, corruption, displacement of populations, disinformation, and political assassinations.
It won the 2023 Booker Prize. At our event, Paul was jet-lagged and had been touring steadily since winning the prize in November. In his Irish accent, he said “fook” about three times when we first met. I like people who swear. We had a good time.
A photo from that evening:
Paul read the first chapter of Prophet Song. It sounded as lyrical as the words read on the page. Think a shade of Cormac McCarthy. The book also shares something in common with The Handmaid’s Tale. As Margaret Atwood says, everything that happens has already happened.
And that’s what I say I read to discover what I know. While Prophet Song is propulsive and gripping, it’s also haunting. It gives the politics of our time a narrative shape. It helped my thoughts cohere.
A quote from the book: “All your life you’ve been asleep, all of us sleeping, and now the great waking begins.”
All my best,
CC
P.S.
My piece, My memories are being erased, about daily living conditions in Gaza, is in the next of my monthly contributions to The Globe & Mail.
The best three-paragraph essay you will read today: Generation Gap by Sarah Moss.
On the Flannery O’Connor quote: It’s all over the internet and in many books, but I can’t find the source. It might be in her letters? I am looking.
If you are looking for a book with an escape hatch, I get it. Maybe try The Book of Love by Kelly Link? It is riveting and hard to describe and this profile will give you the vibe.
My letter is monthly and free. Thank you for reading!