Helen Cullen

This lovely novel really captures the "black dog" of depression and its impact on all surrounding family members. Maeve, an American studying drama, and Murtagh, an Irish potter, meet in Dublin in 1978, fall in love, and move to Inis Og, a tiny island, where Murtagh takes over a thriving pottery studio and Maeve tries to lose herself in him and in their four children. With no other outlets for her creativity, Maeve fights waves of bleak moods over and over as she tries to justify staying alive for her family and finally fails. Murtagh and the four children's next chapters are surprisingly authentic and believable, and the story is a deep dive into a family of strong individuals who are able to use Maeve as a beacon rather than a reason to despair, although it's far from an easy task.

Quote: "She always seemed to witness the moments her parents had believed were cloaked in invisibility and then remain haunted by what she'd seen."… (altro)