Stone kingdoms

by David Park

Haunted by the Troubles in Northern Ireland and trapped in a land between the mountains and the sea, Naomi dreams of another life far from the rainy shores of Donegal. When she moves from the rain-swept shores of Ireland to work in a refugee camp in the burning heat of Africa, Naomi exchanges the city streets of Belfast for the arid desert. Though she leaves behind the land where she was born, escaping her past is not so easy.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland

277 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Christine Vranas · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Park is a beautiful writer. This story was hard for me to read and process because I identified with the heroine on many levels. Essentially she is an idealist who came from a very isolated background. Her father was a minister who swam daily in the rough seas of Ireland to combat his fear of the dark grey life of his parishioners in war torn Ireland. He thought the Catholics a superstitious lot who worshiped “ Stone Statues” and crawled on their knees in penance and thought this would somehow redeem them “ to their god.”
How did this silent man, who preached lukewarm sermons, and thought of Catholics as pagans, influence his only child, a daughter?
The answer is that she went to Africa to participate in a relief mission in another war torn area.
This is her story combining the difficult past with the horrifying present. There are many stories of those who chose to fight the ravages of war with their own defiance and humanitarian bravery.
Hope is not entirely erased in this story but the bleakness of man’s worst nature is so prevalent that it filled me with despair. Why did I identify so closely with the main character? She wanted to change the past by fighting in her present life.... but the path she chose was ridiculously harder than even her own tragic background.
In the end she is even physically blinded and only sees a sliver of light in one eye.
Her background is from the sea. Like myself only water seems to assuage and bring her back to life. The water images are prevalent and are filled with hope but also with darkness.
In the end this story seemed off balance. I am amazed at the bravery of many women, including the heroine’s mother. Unfortunately I was mostly left with the unending hurt and cruelty and the dark side of humanity despite the conclusion of this book with the image of polyps in the sea being able to regenerate.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very bleak, yet very beautiful. The writing is wonderful.

[Eithne Darragh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot believe what a wonderful writer David Park is. This novel is thrilling and beautifully written.