Miami Showband survivor insists that healing is possible
This week there’s another mixed bag of fiction and nonfiction, including one from Miami Showband survivor Stephen Travers and Irvine Welsh’s newest novel.
Men in Love, Irvine Welsh, Jonathan Cape, €16.99
This is a sequel to Welsh’s bestseller Trainspotting, which was also adapted for film, and follows his quartet of Sickboy, Begbie, Renton and Spud as they swap addiction to heroin for addiction to ecstasy, while trying to find meaningful relationships. Set at the end of the 1980s, when Thatcher’s Britain was finally starting to crumble and when the rave scene was still in its infancy, it’s another gritty, sometimes funny and sometimes poignant look at the lives of these young men in their early 20s. Things are still uproarious and chaotic, although Sickboy has bagged himself a woman, a rather posh one, and he and Amanda are planning their wedding, although love for Sickboy seems purely transactional. Maybe it always is. This is not as fast paced or as insane as Trainspotting. Here Welsh takes a more reflective spin on what he deems to be the ultimate high; love and our attempts to achieve it. Fans will hoover this up.
Murder Takes a Vacation, Laura Lippman, Faber, €14.50
Muriel Blossom is in her late 60ss and is recently retired as secretary for a private eye. Finding a lottery ticket in a car park makes her a multi-millionaire. Her first spend will be on a holiday in Europe, since she’s never left the US. A week in Paris and then a further week on a cruise will be just the ticket. On the plane she meets Allan, a charming man, or at least Muriel is charmed. The following day in Paris she’s questioned by police about his death (of which she knows nothing) and she realises he must have been involved in something nefarious. Later she keeps running into the mysterious Danny on the cruise ship. Danny is convinced that Allan was transporting a piece of stolen art and was murdered when it wasn’t found. He also thinks Muriel knows more than she does. Fans of Richard Osman and Agatha Christie will find this mystery irresistible. It’s an entertaining jaunt and the first in a new series of Mrs Blossom Mysteries.
The Bass Player, Stephen Travers, New Island, €17.95
Stephen Travers was a member of the Miami Showband, who were ambushed by the UVF in 1975 on their way home from a gig in Northern Ireland. Three members were murdered, Travers and another member survived. In the 50 years since then, Travers has continued with his music, but he has also become a tireless peace activist, well used to the world stage, and determined that reconciliation is the only way forward. His life before the massacre is something he describes as his ‘first life’. His second life began as he lay injured in a field in County Down. He wrote of the aftermath of the horror in a book published in 2008, The Miami Showband Massacre. He also contributed much to the Netflix documentary ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre. In this book he reflects on his life before the nightmare, his ‘first life’, as well as offering understanding to those people whose voices have been silenced by violence, insisting that healing is possible. It’s both a memoir and a testament of hope.
Daughter of Genoa, Kat Devereaux, Head of Zeus, €14.50
This novel, based on fact, is similar in content to Joseph O’Connor’s My Father’s House. Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty wasn’t the only cleric involved in getting Jews and POWs to safety, through the use of the Vatican in Rome. In Genoa, don Francesco Repetto, a Jesuit priest was involved in similar missions throughout 1944. Repetto worked hand-in-hand with aviator Massimo Teglio, a bit like O’Flaherty worked with singer Delia Murphy. In this novel, two fictional characters are introduced; Anna Pastorina, a young Jewish widow whose home is bombed by the RAF; and a young Jesuit priest, Fr Vittorio, who gets her to a safe house in the wake of the bombing. Fr Vittorio is suffering a return of TB, which he had as a child, but somehow manages to continue his work although he’s dreadfully ill. Anna is just one of the people he helps to save. It’s a beautifully written work of historical fiction and a tribute to the brave men and women who helped the Jewish people flee certain death in Nazi-occupied Italy.
Frog Routes, Polka Dot Newts, Anja Murray, Gill, €22.99
Anja Murray is best known as the presenter of the weekly Nature File programme on Lyric FM and it’s her regular broadcast that inspired this delightful book. There’s a lot going on underneath our feet, and in the trees, hedgerows, lakes and rivers that surround us. You might be surprised to know how much is happening. It’s all documented here in this celebration of nature from one of our best-known ecologists and environmentalists. She begins the book in February, which is the ‘official’ start of spring, and takes the reader through every month of the year, ending up in January. It can be read cover to cover or you can dip in, starting in any month. However you approach this book, you will be treated not just to expert, enlightening descriptions of our natural world, you will also learn how the behaviour of our native creatures has been woven into history, myth and folklore. Heartily endorsed by Manchán Magan, it’s a must for anyone interested in connecting with nature and learning about our fragile ecosystems. An intriguing, engaging book.
Footnotes
The Dingle Food Festival is on this weekend, October 3-5, and promises lots of fun along with good food. There are children’s events, lots of street entertainment and great music along with the Taste Trail, market stalls, workshops and more. See dinglefood.com for more information.
The Roscommon International Film Festival takes place next weekend, October 10-11. A total of 44 films will be shown over the course of the two days, from filmmakers worldwide, including Ireland. Every type of film is included, from cartoons and shorts to darker stories and documentaries. Full details and tickets can be purchased from roscommonfilm.com.