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Shadowstory
Book by Jennifer Johnston
- GenresIrish LiteratureFiction
233 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2011
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Johnston
41 books100 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 29, 2012
“That is all there is, really. Not much of a story, I’m afraid.”
Contrary to that quote, taken from the last pages of Shadowstory, there actually is quite a story here. A story about growing up and learning life-lessons along the way. A story about love and loyalty and the ties that bind us to others.
This is Polly’s (also known as baby) story. Born in 1940 when her father’s youngest brother, Sam, is only five years old, Polly lives her life in two places. The main part of her life, but a minor part of the story, takes place in Dublin where she lives with her mother, after her father dies in the Second World War. When her mother remarries and has two further children, Polly feels a bit like an outsider in her own home.
Most of Polly’s holidays are spend in Kildaragh and the house where her father grew up and his parents and youngest brother, Sam, still live.
Polly loves her grandparents, her young uncle Sam and the freedom and peace she experiences while in the west of Ireland.
As Polly grows up this peaceful idyll is slowly disturbed. When Sam decides to disappear from his family’s life without a word to anyone except Polly, he burdens her with a secret and a responsibility that is really too big for someone so young and innocent. With her grandparents desperate to know where Sam may be, it is all Polly can do not to blurb out the little she knows.
At the same time other tensions come to the surface in the house in Kildaragh. Polly has lot of growing up to do in very little time.
On the surface this is, as the quote above suggests, a very simple story. Told in minimal and subdued yet very beautiful and almost poetic language, it is easy for the reader to just flow with the narrative and be seduced by the idyllic surroundings and people in Kildaragh. It is only upon reflection that the reader realises how much is actually contained in bare story.
This is a book that deals with growing up, first love, death, religion and family loyalty. This is a book that deals with, and is true to, life. It doesn’t offer unrealistic happy endings but it does deliver a very satisfying read.
Contrary to that quote, taken from the last pages of Shadowstory, there actually is quite a story here. A story about growing up and learning life-lessons along the way. A story about love and loyalty and the ties that bind us to others.
This is Polly’s (also known as baby) story. Born in 1940 when her father’s youngest brother, Sam, is only five years old, Polly lives her life in two places. The main part of her life, but a minor part of the story, takes place in Dublin where she lives with her mother, after her father dies in the Second World War. When her mother remarries and has two further children, Polly feels a bit like an outsider in her own home.
Most of Polly’s holidays are spend in Kildaragh and the house where her father grew up and his parents and youngest brother, Sam, still live.
Polly loves her grandparents, her young uncle Sam and the freedom and peace she experiences while in the west of Ireland.
As Polly grows up this peaceful idyll is slowly disturbed. When Sam decides to disappear from his family’s life without a word to anyone except Polly, he burdens her with a secret and a responsibility that is really too big for someone so young and innocent. With her grandparents desperate to know where Sam may be, it is all Polly can do not to blurb out the little she knows.
At the same time other tensions come to the surface in the house in Kildaragh. Polly has lot of growing up to do in very little time.
On the surface this is, as the quote above suggests, a very simple story. Told in minimal and subdued yet very beautiful and almost poetic language, it is easy for the reader to just flow with the narrative and be seduced by the idyllic surroundings and people in Kildaragh. It is only upon reflection that the reader realises how much is actually contained in bare story.
This is a book that deals with growing up, first love, death, religion and family loyalty. This is a book that deals with, and is true to, life. It doesn’t offer unrealistic happy endings but it does deliver a very satisfying read.
April 16, 2012
Wonderfully written and very subtle and evocative, but not the finest work by this author. Pared down to the bones, this is a deft exploration of a family and a house in decline, and also of a life at the beginning of its living.
July 8, 2012
It may be that the best thing about this novel is that Johnston does not strangle a happy ending out of it. Given the plot, there could be no happy ending. It had the only end it could. The weakest thing about it is the dialogue. No one calls another "dear girl" every single time the girl is addressed, for example, so when it's done in fiction, it doesn't work. I'm not a devoted fan of Jennifer Johnston, but none of her books ever leave me wishing that I hadn't bothered. That's faint praise. There are a few highlights, books that keep me coming back, hoping I'll be so affected again. It happens a little less than half the time.
February 11, 2013
Jennifer Johnston has been one of my favorite authors for a long time. But this book somehow didn't do it for me. Yes, her descriptions were wonderful. And she describes Ireland so vividly. But the story just didn't seem to go anywhere. I couldn't find an underlying purpose being the plot. Okay, the unravelling of a family after tragedies in WWII. The loyalty of a girl torn between her grandparents and remarried mother. But overall, this book lacked the poignancy and importance that her other books have held for me.
January 20, 2016
I think there is something magical about Jennifer Johnston, she manages to take a simple story and weave careful characters into it with such skill and grace that you reach the end with a contented sigh. It wasn't Polly who was the strongest character for me but her Grandmother, she held the whole story together from beginning to end.
July 8, 2013
Another masterpiece from the master storyteller. Post war Ireland and a family dealing with loss, love, religious bigotary and the demands of church and expectations of family. A sad story of disintregation and the weight of history beautifully and touchingly told. Loved it.
December 15, 2023
A book to be read in candlelight, a fine cotton handkerchief clutched in one's hand. Lyrical, lovely and heartbreaking And typical Jennifer Johnston.
Re-read, as part of a long-overdue binge read of this writer. Just as heartbreaking.
Re-read, as part of a long-overdue binge read of this writer. Just as heartbreaking.
March 23, 2012
Beautifully written. A book that takes its time to cast its spell.
October 17, 2012
Jennifer Johnston is one of my favourite authors and her latest book does not disappoint. Her characters and their dialogue evoke a past era beautifully. Wonderful!
August 17, 2016
A so-so read.
August 1, 2021
Okay. I'm probably not the target audience. Hey ho. Some you win, some you lose. This was at least a pretty easy and quick read.
This short novel follows the childhood of a young Irish girl in the years following WWII, and the family relationships in which she was involved. There isn't a lot of plot to speak about - some youthful innocence eventually lost, influences pulling people one way and another, misunderstandings, upset, arguments and death. It was all too superficial for me - the writing tried to be evocative of time and place but for me was all a bit simplistic and immature, blankets and food and crying and dresses. The focus was too much on relationships and this didn't for me really work because most of the characters were inadequately defined and easily confused with each other, what little I cared about them. I didn't warm either to the romantic mystery at the centre of the story either as this spent too long not getting anywhere, and then remained unresolved.
This short novel follows the childhood of a young Irish girl in the years following WWII, and the family relationships in which she was involved. There isn't a lot of plot to speak about - some youthful innocence eventually lost, influences pulling people one way and another, misunderstandings, upset, arguments and death. It was all too superficial for me - the writing tried to be evocative of time and place but for me was all a bit simplistic and immature, blankets and food and crying and dresses. The focus was too much on relationships and this didn't for me really work because most of the characters were inadequately defined and easily confused with each other, what little I cared about them. I didn't warm either to the romantic mystery at the centre of the story either as this spent too long not getting anywhere, and then remained unresolved.
May 11, 2020
A story of love, family ties and secrets set in Ireland. The descriptive prose was good but I wanted to enjoy it more. However, it was quite a good read.
October 17, 2021
This deceptively simple tale written beautifully resonates with powerful emotions in the time of great social upheaval
August 22, 2024
Having first read this Irish novel about 20 years ago, I again found myself pulled into Johnston's beautiful writing and masterful characterisation.
May 6, 2016
Shadowstory is a deceptively simple story by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston, a favourite author of Kim from Reading Matters so I didn’t hesitate when I saw it at the library. It’s a coming-of-age story that explores the nature of love – and the betrayals that complicate it.
Polly is born into a loving Anglo-Irish family, but she becomes an outsider in her own family after her father Greg is killed in WW2 and her mother Nonie remarries. Polly sees this remarriage (and the unnecessary secrecy beforehand) as an act of betrayal and although she gets used to things even when she reaches her teens, she never recognises her stepfather Charlie as having any legitimate interest in her affairs. While vaguely fond of them, the small step-siblings that take away her mother’s attention only reinforce her sense of separateness.
It’s miles away from Dublin, at Kildarragh in County Donegal, that Polly feels at home. She is very fond of her grandparents Beatrice and Geoffrey who live on a large property, large enough to have farm hands, a couple of domestic servants and a devoted cook called Sadie who seems to anticipate every need. It is there that she develops a close bond with her uncle Sam, youngest of the brood and only five years older than she is. It is Sam who tests the boundaries of love, burdening her with his secret ambitions to be part of the Communist Revolution in Cuba. It is never made clear exactly what he does for the movement, only that he is doing some sort of preparatory work before going there, and that he won’t allow her to tell anyone about his plans or his whereabouts.
To see the rest of my review, please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/05/06/s...
Polly is born into a loving Anglo-Irish family, but she becomes an outsider in her own family after her father Greg is killed in WW2 and her mother Nonie remarries. Polly sees this remarriage (and the unnecessary secrecy beforehand) as an act of betrayal and although she gets used to things even when she reaches her teens, she never recognises her stepfather Charlie as having any legitimate interest in her affairs. While vaguely fond of them, the small step-siblings that take away her mother’s attention only reinforce her sense of separateness.
It’s miles away from Dublin, at Kildarragh in County Donegal, that Polly feels at home. She is very fond of her grandparents Beatrice and Geoffrey who live on a large property, large enough to have farm hands, a couple of domestic servants and a devoted cook called Sadie who seems to anticipate every need. It is there that she develops a close bond with her uncle Sam, youngest of the brood and only five years older than she is. It is Sam who tests the boundaries of love, burdening her with his secret ambitions to be part of the Communist Revolution in Cuba. It is never made clear exactly what he does for the movement, only that he is doing some sort of preparatory work before going there, and that he won’t allow her to tell anyone about his plans or his whereabouts.
To see the rest of my review, please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2016/05/06/s...
February 5, 2013
I enjoyed this story and wanted more when I got to the end. There were many threads which could have been taken up but which weren't and I missed. It was spaced out on the page and there were fewer pages than many. Some spin-off stories would have been good. What happened to Sam would be a start? I liked the family and their quirky spoken style to each other. I could well see why Baby wanted to be in the grandparent's home more than her own!
May 28, 2012
The first Jennifer Johnston I've been disappointed by. The writing is as elegant as ever, but the characters didn't all manage to come alive as they usually do in a Johnston novel. For me, the main problem was the relationship between 2 of the main characters which just didn't ring true. But still definitely worth reading.
January 7, 2013
A quick read.
September 15, 2013
Jennifer Johnston's wonderful novels always feel more like plays- the story is just enough to provide a backdrop for the powerful characters in it. Touching and involving
December 5, 2014
Starts out very promising but fizzles in the end. Not one of her best books in my estimation.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews