Trouble the Living, Francesca McDonnell Capossela
Trouble the Living, Francesca McDonnell Capossela
List: $42.99 | Sale: $30.10
Club: $21.49

Trouble the Living

Author: Francesca McDonnell Capossela

Narrator: Alana Kerr Collins, Jesse Vilinsky

Unabridged: 10 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/05/2023

Synopsis

From Northern Ireland to Southern California and back—a mother and daughter confront the violence of the past in an enthralling novel about the possibility of love and redemption during the most transforming and unsettled times.It’s the final years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and Bríd and her sister, Ina, try to maintain a stable life in a divided country. Pushed by her mother’s fanaticism and a family tragedy, Bríd joins the IRA and makes a devastating choice. Frightened and guilt ridden, she flees, leaving behind Ireland and her family for America.Years later, her guilt and tragic history still buried, Bríd is an overprotective mother raising her sensitive daughter, Bernie, in Southern California. Growing up amid a different kind of social unrest, Bernie’s need for independence and her exploration of her sexuality drive a wedge into their already-fragile relationship. When mother and daughter are forced to return to Northern Ireland, they both must confront the past, the present, and the women they’ve become.As they navigate their troubled legacies, mother and daughter untangle the threads of love, violence, and secrets that formed them—and that will stubbornly, beautifully, bind them forever.

About Francesca McDonnell Capossela

Francesca McDonnell Capossela is a queer writer and Irish American dual citizen. She grew up in Brooklyn and holds a Master’s in creative writing from Trinity College Dublin. Her writing can be found in the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Point, Banshee, The Cormorant, Columbia Journal, Guesthouse, and the anthologies Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters and Teaching Nabokov’s Lolita in the #MeToo Era. Francesca lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan with her dog Lyra. For more information, visit francescamcdonnell.com.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Maxine on February 20, 2025

Wow. What a fantastic read this was. I devoured this in hours. Definitely get this one on your list. The book covers the difficult time period in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles. When Catholics and Protestants were mortal emeries and the paramilitary group, the IRA was on a warpath both in the......more

Goodreads review by retrovvitches on February 10, 2025

wow! unexpectedly a fantastic read. this has a huge focus on the decisions you make and what it means to be a sister/daughter/mother. maybe read up on irish history as it took me a minute because i wasn’t very familiar, but honestly this was a book that made you feel so much and all the characters w......more

Goodreads review by Amy on July 15, 2023

I love dual-timeline novels, and Francesca McDonnell Capossela's did not disappoint! Poignant, haunting, and captivating from the first pages, this story set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland in the '90s (and in the US in the mid-2010s) was nuanced, carefully delivered, and taut. Thank you for......more

Goodreads review by Maja on January 20, 2025

I liked this book but ultimately I think it was trying to do too much too fast. It touches upon several interesting topics, the exploration of sexuality of the MC, the enmeshed dependant relationship the MC has with her mother and how it affects her, the mother’s past and how the violence she grew u......more

Goodreads review by ana on January 10, 2024

I would describe 'Trouble the Living' as part thriller, part introspective family saga, delivering a poignant exploration of love, redemption, and the intricate ties that bind us all—it's entirely captivating. Things I loved: - Dual Timelines Done Right: Capossela effortlessly flips between Northern......more

Quotes

This book explores generational anger, whether these daughters should take up the mantels of their mothers’ fights or find a healthier path for themselves, and what exactly they owe to their mothers who have sacrificed so much.” —Booklist“An original and deftly crafted novel of cultural heritage, family life, and women's relationships, Trouble the Living by gifted author Francesca McDonnell Capossela is an inherently fascinating read from cover to cover...” —Midwest Book Review“Francesca Capossela is a startling new talent, elegant, erudite, humane, and with a true novelist’s sense of form and proportion. Her debut straddles continents and generations with seemingly effortless lyricism and verve. Her exacting insight into the emotional dynamics of family is astonishing.” —Jonathan Lethem, bestselling author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude

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