Shadows on Our Skin

by Jennifer Johnston

Derry in the 1970 teenager Joe Logan is growing up in the teeth of the Troubles, having to cope with embittered parents, a brother who's been away and come back with money and a gun in his pocket, harsh school teachers, and the constant awareness of the military presence in the background. Central to the story is the friendship that tentatively grows up between Joe and Kathleen, a young school-teacher who brings a fresh perspective to his familiar world.

Genres: Fiction, Irish Literature, Ireland, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Coming Of Age, Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Jennifer Johnston was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of historical fiction drawing a picture of life in Derry, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles. It circles around a family of four—a bitter, resentful mother and wife, her shattered husband crippled by and at the same time sustained by heroic memories of his earlier involvement in the fight for Irish independence, and their two sons. One is strongly attached to the mother who despises the fighting. The other sides with his father and is eager to fight the British in Northern Ireland. Whether the IRA should be backed or not divides the family. Into the picture is drawn a young teacher. Her relationship with the two sons is interwoven into the story.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA), the most active republican paramilitary group during the Troubles, sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, to facilitate Irish reunification and to bring about an independent, socialist republic for all of Ireland.

The title is a metaphor. The riots, mass protests, bombings, deaths and injuries of this time in Irish history can metaphorically be seen as shadows on the skin of the Irish people.

John Keating narrates the audiobook wonderfully. The Irish accent is heard throughout. The narration is not hard to follow, even for those listeners who are not Irish. The telling is atmospheric. The intonations for the different characters are well done. The narration is exemplary; I cannot imagine a better performance. Five stars for the narration.

The book gives readers a glimpse of life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. How the fighting affected individuals comes across magnificently in the writing.

************************
*The Railway Station Man 4 stars
*The Captains and the Kings 4 stars
*Shadows on our Skin 4 stars
*This Is Not a Novel TBR
*The Old Jest TBR
*How Many Miles to Babylon? TBR
*The Gingerbread Woman TBR
*Foolish Mortals TBR
*Fool's Sanctuary TBR
*Grace And Truth TBR

[Maxine (Booklover Catlady) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in the 1970's when Northern Ireland was in the midst of "The Troubles" where Catholic was pitched against Protestant and Irish against British. British soldiers walked the streets of Northern Ireland, homes were raided on the search for IRA soldiers and supporters. These were turbulent and frightening times for anybody to live in, especially a child.

Shadows on Our Skin is the story of a young dreamer called Joe who lives with his ailing, cranky sick father and harsh, resentful mother in Northern Ireland. He has a gentle soul, the environment does him no favours, he escapes through thinking up and writing poetry but each day he faces the reality of the world he lives in.

This is an atmospheric book, you really are transported back to these difficult times, you can sense the fear, the suspicion, the trauma all around. Joe meets a young teacher and strikes up an unusual friendship with her. It never revealed Joe's age, but I would guess between 12-14 years of age, the teacher is a young women and she chooses to befriend him, at first I was suspicious of this relationship, wondering if it was inappropriate but this teacher really just wants to bring a smile into a young boy's life and I think she is lonely too. She too has her secrets.

Then the spanner in the works turns up, Joe is happy with his new friend, writing poetry for her and feeling someone understands him at last. The "spanner" is his older brother Brendan who returns from working in London back home. Suddenly Brendan and his friend are talking and spending time together and Joe has to deal with a lot of intense emotion around it. He's a really wonderful character, young Joe, I just wanted to give him hugs and tell him it would all be okay.

In part, a coming of age story as Joe deals with some very mature situations that he faces, choices he makes and who he is becoming. It's a poignant and powerful book that really does reflect the awful times that children had to live in during the 1970's in Northern Ireland. Joe is but a victim of the civil war going on all around him.

A series of events split his world apart, and Joe is left to process the consequences of things he has done and choices he made. Shadows on Our Skin is a book that is quick and enjoyable to read, but also evokes sadness and seriousness as you absorb the life of the characters within it.

The book was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize and I am not surprised, it's very well written and has stood the test of time with many readers. I think the author did a marvellous job or portraying the characters of Joe's father and mother, I really was right there, in their tiny little kitchen as his mother poured the tea and his father complained about how he was once a hero but no more.

I escaped into Joe's world and glad I did. An engaging and meaningful novel.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks for the opportunity.

[Angela M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book .
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You'll find a piece of recent Irish history , soldiers in the street , the sounds of
gunshots , people screaming . This is a routine day and night in the town of Derry in Northern Ireland during The Troubles , the unrest that spanned for thirty 30 years .

While this ebook release of this 1977 novel depicts that time in Northern
Ireland , this is a beautifully written , coming of age story of Joe Logan , a young boy ,most likely in his early teens . It's about the family struggling to cope with what is happening around them and fighting their personal demons.

Joe is befriended by a teacher, Kathleen Doherty and their daily talks, teas and excursions provide comfort and respite for Joe from the tensions and arguments in his home and what is happening on the street around him . But then Joe's brother Brendan returns home and everything changes.

This is a short book but yet it is filled with so much emotion . Your heart will ache with Joe but you will be glad you read this book . It's not a surprise that this was on the short list for the Booker Prize on 1977 .
Highly recommended .

[Đurđica Novak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Izvrsna, tužna knjiga koja s tako malo riječi toliko puno daje.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadows on Our Skin was originally published in 1977, in the midst of The Troubles of Northern Ireland. And Troubles are what are depicted here on the community and personal levels, through the young boy, Joe Logan, and his family, as well as a young local teacher, Kathleen Doherty, who becomes Joe's friend. Then to heighten the tension, Joe's brother returns home from his job away in England.

Joe Logan, growing up with a young poet's soul, is so lost amidst the violence, the mess of his family, the mayhem of the streets, that he spends much of his time daydreaming. His father is physically and mentally left in the past with the real or mythical heroics he performed for Ireland. His mother works hard to support the family and survive. Joe dreams of leaving and writes poetry during math class.

Kathleen is another escape for him. She is a somewhat older woman, but not too old. Approachable if not available. Part of his escape from the bombs and bullets and night time raids.

The writing is so good that I would go back and re-read phrases and paragraphs. Lots of highlighting. Describing a row of houses:


The windows of the houses stared at the sea. They had
stared at the sea for several hundred years, they enjoyed
their occupation. (loc 2528)


And Joe's worries about his future and writing:


What is there for me, he wondered, if I can't make
words dance, as the birds are dancing? A man with a brush
and tubes of colour can put these patterns on a page so
that you can recognize them. Say, ah yes. Can I, with a
biro pen and a string of words? Where? How do you start?
What are the rules? Do you find them out as you go along?
....I don't want to drive the dry cleaner's van, or be an
electrician. There should be someone you can talk to.
(loc 2541)


And added to this, the confusion of a war-like atmosphere at home and in the streets.


Later that night the army came and lifted Sean
Buckley.

Joe didn't know, at the time whose house they were at,
whose voices were shouting, whose door was being
battered down. He lay stiff on the camp bed listening
as the boots thudded down the street past their own house,
and the battering started on a door across the road.
(loc 1029)


So much turmoil in Joe's life related to his age, his family, his city, his country, all captured so beautifully and with appropriate melancholy by the author. A grateful thank you to the publisher for bringing this book back again in an ebook format.


Thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this novel.

[Allan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I appreciated this novel, I can't say that I enjoyed it.

Shortlisted for the 1977 Booker, the narrative revolves around schoolboy Joe, resident of a very bleakly portrayed Troubles scarred Derry, his over protective and extremely disagreeable mother, his 'veteran' cripple, drunk father, his brother Brendan, who arrives back in the city from England, and a schoolteacher from Wexford that befriends Joe, Kathleen.

Joe's already difficult home life is further complicated by the dangers of the political violence surrounding him, his isolation compounded by his mother, who understandably wants to keep him from danger. He develops what I saw as an unlikely friendship with Kathleen, which leads to problems when Brendan becomes involved.

Given the bleakness that no doubt was 1970s Derry, Johnston does a really good job in recreating the hard lives of a family of residents, but for me, it was just too bleak a tale. I didn't grow to like any of the characters, and while I managed to read the book relatively quickly, I felt pretty downbeat at the end. No doubt the emotional response Johnston was looking for, but it was a shame there wasn't any ray of sunshine to cling to.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was deservedly shortlisted for the 1977 Booker Prize. The author still lives in Derry, the site of this story. It is a simple story revolving around a boy and a female friend, a teacher, his brother, who is in the IRA, his semi-invalid father (supposedly an IRA hero), and his hardworking, bitter mother. The poverty of life in working class Derry permeates the book, a poverty worsened by the unrest of the Troubles. There are shootings nearly every day, yet young Joe walks back and forth to school around and through it. While the Troubles permeate the lives of people, particularly poor Nationalist residents, simultaneously people carry on living and working. Joe is a lonely boy who daydreams in school, and writes poems in his head. His unlikely friendship with a young, lonely teacher, a woman from another place, is believable, and is definitely of this time, the 1970's and place, Derry. Johnston is a genius at wroughting portraits of lonely people in the stark landscape of Northern Ireland of the time.

[Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

💚Anything by this Irish writer is brilliant. Her prose is clipped and quick and clean. Many of her novels were written when the Troubles were still with us and this painful but beautiful book is no exception.

💚Highly recommended and indeed all her novels are good, strong reads with lovely if endangered love affairs.

💚I thought of her writings as I’m engaged in reading a history of the period of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, something she lived through and, as I’ve mentioned above, put into her novels.

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I both loved and hated this book. Hated only because of what was happening at that time in Northern Ireland. I personally cannot imagine such an existence-to live in fear and uncertainty. Jennifer Johnston is an amazing writer. She captures the time and the people so well. It really is a memorable novel. The final 3 pages are burned into my mind and soul.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Digital ARC of the Open Road Media edition read via Netgalley.

This book was apparently shortlisted for the Man Booker prize but to call it a book is slightly misleading for it is rather short. The sheer length or lack of length of the work is misleading because despite its shortness it is a heavy, morality tale that focuses on the Trouble and the conflicts that occurred not so much between Catholic and Protestant but between families as each member and the friends try to find a place to stay in the shifting morass.

The Open Road Media release of the book (formatted eBook) is especially apt considering the recent events concerning the Boston University tapes of IRA troubles and the investigation into the murder of a mother, whose children still live near those who killed her mother. It is impossible not to think of that story when reading this work. It is important that the reader doesn’t lose sight of that.

Joe is a student of indomitable age. He has to be close to thirteen at the youngest and fifteen at the oldest. He lives with his mother and father. The family situation is strained because Joe’s mother works, the only source of income for the family. Joe’s father is sick, or at least claims he is, and lives only for his glory days in the cause, though Joe’s mother has a slightly different take on this. Joe is his mother’s child, her golden boy, who is going to do well in school, and unspoken as it is, get out and live a good life.

Joe has a talent for poetry and no real talent for maths or more rigid schoolwork, and it is this lack of interest that causes him to stay late at school and on his way home meet Kathleen. Kathleen is older and burns brighter than Joe. Unlike his house which is beset by the darkness of the Troubles, they seem to roll off Kathleen’s back like water. If Joe’s mother represents passive disinterest and dislike, the mother losing everything and only seeing the cost, while his father (and eventually his brother) represents active battle, Kathleen represents peace. She isn’t a hippie, though she is far freer than anyone else Joe has met. She just is and she accepts me.

It is a strange relationship to have at the heart of the book. Perhaps it says more about my American view that what the initial stumbling block for me was the age difference. She might not be Joe’s teacher, but she is a teacher at a girl’s. There is a vague whiff of inappropriate behavior to me, that is quickly dispel because Kathleen is looking for a kindred spirit to be friends with, and Joe is such a spirit. For others, for those who lived though the troubles, the stumbling book might be the friendship between the Protestant Kathleen and the Catholic Joe, though Kathleen’s Protestantism is something that she seems to wear as lightly as Joe wears his Catholicism.

While Kathleen’s interest in Joe may, at most, be that of an older sister for a younger brother, Joe’s interest in Kathleen is accurately and painfully reminder in such a way that the reader is more fully aware of the depth of emotion than Joe is. Joe wonders about his actions, his jealous and his dislike of his older brother that comes from something other than Joe being forced to step up when, quite frankly, he should be free to be a teen. When he commits a wrong, it is a wrong that any teen, any young person regardless of gender would make. It is action borne out of jealous and hate and one that is seen every day, everywhere. However, because this is Ireland during the Troubles, well, the action has harsher effects that Joe thought it would.

The book works because of the dialogue. By conveying must of the action though talk, Johnson is able to transport the reader to the neighbor, to that section of Northern Ireland in a far better way than simply describing place and time The reader becomes another member of the area, less obvious and more secretive, but more aware than Joe simply because of age and experience.

Crossposted on Booklikes.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of an Irish family living in Derry during the Troubles in the late 60s. The father is an alcoholic who has a range of ailments that keep him partly bedridden and dependent on the help of his wife and 15-year-old son, Joe. The father never appreciates what is done for him, and the tension between husband and wife makes homelife a misery for Joe. The older brother, Brendan, has gone to work in London, but writes that he wants to come home. His mother doesn't want him to come back to Derry, where people get shot. She wants him to stay safe in London. His father, who was part of the Resistance, is enthusiastic about Brendan's return, since Brendan listens to his stories (which his mother calls fairy tales) and takes the old man out drinking with his friends. Joe makes friends with a young teacher, Kathleen, and has a major crush on her. Although Kathleen never makes a move on Joe, her behavior is very familiar and, to my thinking, completely inappropriate.

At times, the story lagged and was repetitious (hence the 4, not 5, stars), but the ending is a surprise and very dramatic. It's a moving story of people living in terrible times, and Jennifer Johnston is a terrific writer.

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. A poignant, concisely written, memorable short novel about Joe Logan, a young boy, living is Derry, Ireland, during ‘The Troubles’. Joe has an older brother, Brendan, who has been away in England, working. Brendan arrives back in Derry during a time when British soldiers are being shot by snipers. Joe and Brendan’s father is almost bedridden, living off his bitter memories. Their mother is stoic. She is housekeeper and a working mother who rues her lot in life. She is fearful that one of family will be injured or killed. It is not safe walking the streets of Derry.

Joe by chance meets Kathleen Doherty, a young school teacher who is lonely and a long way from where she would like to be. They becomes friends, going on outings. Things become complicated when Brendan meets Kathleen.

A thought provoking gem of a novel. Highly recommended.

This book was shortlisted for the 1977 Booker Prize.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be a book "of its time" (& place) as it is set in and originally published 70s Northern Ireland during the Troubles. However I found it a very worthwhile read now with an insight into a microcosm of life there at that time. Seen through the eyes of Joe, a young boy, and his family in Derry (Londonderry) it paints an effective and evocative picture of the time and place. It is beautifully written with a very poetic feel to it not least of which because poetry interests Joe far more that many other aspects of his life even when he meets another adult from outside his family. I found Joe's character very easy to become involved with combining the hopes and fears of a young boy with those of his family and his new friend.

Woven through it very effectively is a Horslips song (Time to kill) both as poetry and as a form of commentary on the Troubles which begin to touch Joe and his family rather more. The book clearly shows a tiredness with the situation and at times is really quite dark. However it is also soft in a very Irish way and has strands of hope and light in it. At the time it was first published (1977) some of the views expressed would have been very provocative however it is easy to see why it was well regarded at the time and for me it still reads very well indeed in the current time. I really enjoyed it and would happily recommend it to anyone with an interest.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

[Nigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be a book "of its time" (& place) as it is set in and originally published 70s Northern Ireland during the Troubles. However I found it a very worthwhile read now with an insight into a microcosm of life there at that time. Seen through the eyes of Joe, a young boy, and his family in Derry (Londonderry) it paints an effective and evocative picture of the time and place. It is beautifully written with a very poetic feel to it not least of which because poetry interests Joe far more that many other aspects of his life even when he meets another adult from outside his family. I found Joe's character very easy to become involved with combining the hopes and fears of a young boy with those of his family and his new friend.

Woven through it very effectively is a Horslips song (Time to kill) both as poetry and as a form of commentary on the Troubles which begin to touch Joe and his family rather more. The book clearly shows a tiredness with the situation and at times is really quite dark. However it is also soft in a very Irish way and has strands of hope and light in it. At the time it was first published (1977) some of the views expressed would have been very provocative however it is easy to see why it was well regarded at the time and for me it still reads very well indeed in the current time. I really enjoyed it and would happily recommend it to anyone with an interest.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Logan is a teenager growing up in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 70s, with the Troubles at their height. Their presence is palpable throughout the novel, whether as a potential danger, a night-time raid or just the sound of gunfire in the distance. But for Joe they are just a way of life and he is more concerned with negotiating life at home and school. Jennifer Johnston’s skill at characterisation is evident here, as Joe, a sensitive boy, comes alive on the page, and his relationship with a lonely teacher who befriends him is both poignant and moving. This is a gentle book set in troubled times, told in Johnston’s trademark spare and understated style and a compelling account of growing up in Northern Ireland. All her characters are lost or lonely or damaged in some way, and the atmosphere is one of hopelessness. A melancholy although not a depressing read and one that vividly conjures up a terrible time in Irish history. I loved this book, as I do all of Johnston’s writing. Published originally in 1977, it isn’t perhaps as good as some of her later novels, but it’s nevertheless a compelling and absorbing story, and the interweaving of the personal and political is skilfully handled. Highly recommended.

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if I'd not enjoyed the plot of this book I'd have carried on reading it for the beautiful way in which it is written. Luckily, I really liked the story so reading it was a double win. Joe Logan, who appears to be about 12 or 13 years old, is growing up in Derry in a very dysfunctional family with The Troubles as the backdrop to his troubled life. He protects himself by a dream life and writing poetry. A chance meeting with a young female teacher brings light into his life but this light is extinguished when his older brother, Brendan, returns from working in England and rejoins the IRA.

A fascinating tale of growth and awakening which really touched me. Joe's character is very convincingly written and the relationship between the boy and the female teacher, which could have been badly handled, is credible and enlightening. The roles that the various adults play in Joe's life show clearly just how wrong they can get it while Joe's innocence of actions and consequences is brutally depicted. Added to this, Ms Johnston's writing style swept me away with its poetic spareness. Not a word out of place. Highly recommended. My only criticism is that it is too short.

[Bronwyn Mcloughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures the grey hopelessness of Derry during the troubles; contrasts the oppressive fear and anger of a terrorised community with the poetic fancies of Joe and his accidental friend, school teacher Kathleen, who takes him on outings and feeds his soul as much as his body. It all comes unstuck when Joe's brother Brendan takes a fancy to Kathleen at the same time as he develops an involvement with the Provos, following his father's mythical and heroic past. When Joe, in a fit of jealousy, reveals to Brendan that Kathleen is engaged to a British soldier currently serving in Germany, Brendan and his friends brutalise her, before issuing her with a demand to leave. The soul destroying mean spiritedness of the Troubles where personal vendettas merge with religious and political intolerance in the extreme is painted with devastating effectiveness and simplicity. May such times never return.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a bleak but beautifully-depicted coming-of-age story of a teenager growing up in strife-torn Derry (Northern Ireland) during The Troubles.

Joe Logan is a lonely dreamer who composes poetry during his maths classes. He hates his alcoholic and mostly bedridden father, unable to understand the chronic depression (and possibly PTSD) the old man lives with; and his mother, who earns the household’s income as well as obsessively completing all domestic duties, has become harsh and bitter. The parents sleep in separate rooms. It’s a deeply troubled household, where love – if it exists at all – is never expressed.

This would already be sufficient fodder for a good novel, but Johnston adds an overlay of the daily violence and terror of civil war, described in objective, non-partisan detail. The sounds of gunfire and ambulance sirens are commonplace, as is the smell of burning houses; the hated British troops patrol the streets, and regularly smash windows and ransack houses at night searching for weapons or suspected Provs (Provisional IRA).

Joe befriends chain-smoking young teacher Kathleen Doherty, the two drawn to each other by both loneliness and a love of words. Kathleen is engaged to Fred, who’s stationed in Germany. The friendship between Joe and Kathleen deepens, but the return of Joe’s older brother Brendan from a stint working in England changes everything, especially after Brendan finds himself work as a “driver”, and meets Kathleen. Is Brendan working for the Provs? Is he going to spoil Joe’s precious friendship?

One short passage seems to sum up so much: the father complains that Brendan has gone out without him, and Joe’s mother responds:

‘Can’t you leave him be? There’s no other boy in Derry had to take his old father around with him wherever he went. Making a show of him.’

‘They were always glad to see me, so they were . . . Always listened. Always engaged me in edifying conversation. They had time for me.’

‘Well, tonight they’ll have a bit of peace.’
‘You’re hard.’

‘It’s better to be hard than soft in the head.’

There was no reply to that one . . . The old man’s head drooped towards his chest. Some small worm of pity moved inside Joe.

‘Maybe he has a girl,’ he said and was instantly appalled by the words, by the possibility of the truth in the words, by the possibility . . .

When matters come to a head in a gripping, devastating final eleven pages, Joe runs – from himself as much as from the house – and ends up on Derry’s outskirts. This part is superbly written and deeply evocative…

A road to the right wandered down the hill toward the river. He went with it. Smoke streamed from the high chimneys of the power station on the other bank of the river. A curve of grey and white houses formed a bay, and boats rocked gently on its sheltered water. He sat down on a wall and looked at it all. Beyond the houses the river opened out wide into the lough and then somewhere far away there was the sea. The world. The real world. Perhaps it was all the same. Perhaps everywhere you went people were lost, searching with desperation for something they would never find. Mutilating themselves and each other in their desperation. There was no safety. A bird got up slowly from the field below him, ungainly for a moment and then soaring with a perfection that took your breath away. The song he had heard in her room came into his head.
I see the last black swan
Fly past the sun,
I wish I too were gone
Back home again.

There are parallels with one of my favourite films, the little-known The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play of the same name. A dysfunctional household struggles to cope with their difficult circumstances, in which a sensitive child (Tillie) finds refuge in her pets and school projects, one of which gives the play its name. Like Joe, Tillie gains support from a teacher, and in both cases, the gift they most value – for Tillie, the pet rabbit from her teacher, and for Joe, the friendship of the teacher herself – is destroyed. But in Joe’s case, he is the destroyer…

What have I done? Deliberate destruction. I hated him. Only because . . . for some nameless reason. Some reason I don’t understand. Father, I have sinned. Who will forgive me now? I have told the truth, but only to destroy. I too am destroyed. So forever is the destroyer destroyed. So . . .

That film always leaves me in tears. This novel did too, even though there’s not one jot of sentimentality in it. For its candour, its art, its superlative characterisation, and of course the insight it gives us into the Troubles in particular, and the human impact of violent conflict in general, Shadows on our Skin well deserved its shortlisting for the 1977 Booker Prize.

It comes in at #2,463 in my list of the greatest 4,000 works of fiction, with a score of 74.6% (though I’m recallibrating my algorithms and may need to update this). For Goodreads, five stars and a hearty recommendation.

[A. Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a skillfully told story set in Derry during the Troubles, a child protagonist, a teacher, a brother on the edge of the IRA, parents filled with anger and bitterness.

[Mary Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stylish story telling at its best

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not so good as expected since I've read better books on this subject.

[Colin Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could imagine Johnston's tightly-constructed plot as a stage play, just five sharply characterised main dramatis personae, the tension and smell of the troubles as a backdrop, and a double twist in the plot to take the audience/reader by surprise, yet which fits perfectly with what has gone before.
The story-line and the context in which it unfolds are the book's greatest virtues, of which it has many.
The description of the home life in Republican Derry of its main protagonist, schoolboy Joe, revolving around the stove, the coal fire, the cramped living quarters, the outside toilet owes something to the tradition of English post-war working class fiction.
And the plot, informed by knowledge of the conflict and of its futility, mercilessly exposes the vacuous, self-proclaimed heroism of Joe's wastrel father as much as the illusions of elder boy Brendan when called upon to serve the cause. It is, though they strive valiantly to avoid involvement, the women who pay the price.
There is however a sense that the story makes the characters what they are, not the other way around. It's necessary for Joe to idolise the teacher who adopts hi as a friend for the plot to work, but I could never quite believe in that central relationship, especially in their first meeting.
Joe, a character who talks of loving the clowns in a circus but who can also say "women are all the same," who is having trouble with elementary maths yet is capable of entertaining his 20s-plus teacher, seems both too young and too old for his part.
That aside, the book rattles along, with a particularly vivid and even-handed description of a miliary snatch-squad raiding houses, toward its cruel but edifying conclusion. And as thankfully the time of troubles recedes, it provides a telling reminder of what live was like in a part of the United Kingdom when sectarian division ruled. May it never return. God damn Brexit.

[Stanley Levine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small book covering a lot of emotional and historical territory. Although a slow reader, I was able to finish it in one day. It is well written, the characters well drawn, lovely descriptions in which words become almost palpable. Still, for me, it failed to rise to the level of a great novel. Except for the protagonist, a schoolboy named Joe, all the characters were somewhat sketchy. One is curious about their fate, to be sure, but not with the intense caring about fully rounded and deeply felt personalities that literature at its best can elicit. Joe does go beyond this. One cares about him, and he is a multi-dimensional character. But even he is somewhat diagrammatic.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical and/or psychological fiction, it is certainly worth the investment in time, but do not expect to be blown away by it. Yet the atmosphere, the writing and the situations will stick with you.

[Jo Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this many years ago in physical form. When it was advertised as included with audible I had to hear Joe Logan’s voice once again. It didn’t miss. Set in the troubles in 70’s Derry young Joe befriends a teacher, they share a love of poetry. They enjoy tea together and excursions, Kathleen provides much needed respite for Joe. Joe’s brother Brendan also befriends the teacher, and spends time with her when he returns from England after taking up the job that left his daddy confined to bed (bar the oft pub crawl, when Joe’s mammy goes to work) Brendan has joined the “fight against the brits” in a family who are torn between whether the provo’s are good or bad.
The author captures beautifully the emotion, the confusion, the grey, the pain and the horrors of the time, particularly from the view point of a child of the troubles. The title is perfect, the shadows for so many remain.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUMMARY - Atmospheric in its background domestic normality, Johnson's book brought me closer to the lived experience of The Troubles.

4.5 - It is partly concidence, and partly my focus on mid-to-late-20thC fiction this year, that has seen The Troubles loom so large in my reading pile. Shadows on Our Skin is now among my favourites.

Raids, patrols and barricades are part of the street furniture, and names and incidents are gossiped over kitchen table family dinners. Johnson creates atmosphere by not placing too much emphasis on action. The shock of the too-heavy pistol is weightier because it follows family squabbles and rain-lashed hillside friendships. The normality is punctuated by blasts and shouts, which sound all the louder because Johnson so successfully creates a relatable backdrop microcosm of 1970s terrace-house life.

Like JG Farrell and (atmospherically at least) to Anna Burns, Johnson has created a picture of Northern Ireland with a visual topography. Like the conservatory in Farrell's 'Troubles', and crossing streets in Burns's 'Milkman', Johnson's book has left a visual memory of place and time.

Part of my hope with switching more to fiction is to deepen my emotional response to 'other' places - to understand and empathise at a deeper level with countries and cultures beyond my ken. I'm a historian so this isn't new in some ways, but I do need to push myself outside the familiar spheres that are still my comfort zone. The relatability Johnson evokes is both familiar and alien. Unsettlingly yet humanely, it brought me beyond news reports into a recognisably peopled place.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exquisite, sad little book about a boy growing up in Derry during the Troubles. Johnston does an uncommonly fine job of capturing Joe Logan's age and maturity: the opposing naivete and worldliness of a boy his age are richly detailed, serving as they do as the catalyst for the book's unspoken tragedy.

I'd absolutely recommend this short read to anyone who wants an insider look at what it was like growing up in the Troubles through the eyes of a boy protected from some, not all, of its darkest elements.

[BrianC75 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived in Ulster for the duration of the ‘Troubles’ and have read several books on that period. None of them conveyed the emotions and atmosphere of those times as well as Jennifer Johnston does in her small book. She really hits ‘the nail on the head’ - characters, dialogue, locational description and storyline are all excellent. She takes you by the hand and walks and trails and bundles you through working class Derry/Londonderry and does it so well.
Powerful stuff!

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another moving book from Jennifer Johnston, ( who is now 93!). The story is set in Derry during the Troubles and was written at that time. I felt like I was there. The struggles of the people both inside and outside the home were heart breaking. The lives of Joe and his mother were another example of how hard life can be when living with an alcoholic, especially during such difficult times. An important piece of writing.

[Kiliyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a deeply moving story and it simultaneously felt like the three novels I've read by Johnson came full circle as well. From 'the old jest' to 'fool's sanctuary' to this novel, it feels like everyone from the Troubles got an introspective voice. Johnston also simply writes beautifully. Every page is so full of feeling and evocative of the scenery and the people simply feel real. In my humble opinion, she is an absolute must-read novelist.

[Irene · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of a young boy grappling with a confusing and divided world, in his Northern Irish town, in his fractured family, in his muddled feelings. I usually do not like novels with young protagonists. But this book captured the sense of disorientation and transition of youth without being saccharin or condescending.