It's 1973, in a small town on the outskirts of Belfast. We meet Cushla Lavery, who is a 24 year old Catholic primary school teacher. She cares deeply for her pupils, none more so than the heartbreaking Davy McGeown. His family are singled out as targets for sectarian bullying, as their parent's marriage is mixed. She lives with her Mum, Gina, who has been drowning her grief for her dead husband in gin. Cushla helps out in the family bar and it is here that she meets Micheal Agnew, a protestant lawyer, 30 years her senior. Micheal asks her to teach him and his erudite friends how to speak Irish (or how to cosplay as Fenians) and so begins their illicit affair. 

I thought this book was exceptionally good. The writing is understated but evocative; I can picture the 1970s fashions and orange formica-heavy decor she describes perfectly, as well as the creeping, claustrophobic dread of the headlines that The Troubles create. Her characters are fully realised, from the monstrous Fr. Slattery to Gerry, Cushla's closest friend. I found the female characters to be particularly well written; flawed, human, whole. I highly recommend that you read thi beautiful, violently tender book. 

I've yet to read Louise Kennedy's short story collection "The End of the World is a Cul de Sac" but this, her debut novel, has bumped it right up my reading list. 

*Trespasses will be published on 14th April. Many thanks to the author, the publisher @bloomsburypublishing and @netgalley for the advanced digital copy*