Revenge
by Mary Stanley
Published
by Headline Book Publishing 2003
Mary Stanley’s prose is powerful and gripping.
This is her third book and is a beautifully crafted and polished
piece of writing. The story is set in well-heeled, middle-class
Dublin where the McHarg family – Millicent, her daughter-in-law
Maria and her three granddaughters - live in comfortable female
harmony for most of the year. George - Millicent’s son, Maria’s
husband, the girls’ father - works abroad for most of the
year and only occasionally spends time with his family.
The happy uneventful life of the household is shattered
when the eldest daughter is assaulted on Christmas Eve. The theme
of the book is a deep and dark one and the solutions presented are
shocking. However, the characters are so skilfully and sympathetically
drawn that the reader is carried along effortlessly to the end.
While ‘Vengeance is mine, said the Lord’ is a sentiment
generally accepted, we cannot pass judgement on Millicent when she
gives the Lord a helping hand in doling out retribution.
This
is the story of how the family coped with the appalling disruption
of their lives, told from the viewpoints of the five female McHargs
and their neighbour. The voices come across as separate engaging
entities and capture the reader’s interest throughout the
book. This definitely is a book to be savoured .
Reviewed
by a Clare County Library Staff member.
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