Colm O'Regan

26/2020. Comic novel about a middle-aged mum, set in rural Eire / Ireland. The characters are stereotypes but they're realistic and nuanced versions of types. I laughed aloud by page four, and kept laughing throughout. The opening scene in the local pub is broad comedy, but nothing that isn't familiar from my home village in southern England (except we discovered garlic a few years earlier). As the story progresses, after readers have got to know the town and the people, the broad humour begins to include moments of sharp satire too. Enjoyable, provided you don't mind seeing everyone equally skewered.… (meer)