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The Last Resort
'Profoundly imagined characters, spiced with the off-kilter and deliciously mad . . . a work of great empathy and imagination' THE IRISH TIMES
The season's just begun at Seacliff Caravan Park, but none of the residents are having a good time.
Frankie is haunted by his daughter's death. Vidas, homeless and far from Lithuania, seeks sanctuary in an abandoned caravan. Anna struggles to shake off the ghost of her overbearing mother. Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is. Malcolm, a failed illusionist, makes one final attempt to reinvent himself. Agatha Christie-obsessed Alma faces her toughest case yet as she tries to help them all find what they've lost.
With trademark wit and playfulness, in this stunning linked short-story collection Jan Carson explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the Church and the legacy of the Troubles. The Last Resort firmly places Carson as one of the most inventive and daring writers of her generation.
'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES
The season's just begun at Seacliff Caravan Park, but none of the residents are having a good time.
Frankie is haunted by his daughter's death. Vidas, homeless and far from Lithuania, seeks sanctuary in an abandoned caravan. Anna struggles to shake off the ghost of her overbearing mother. Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is. Malcolm, a failed illusionist, makes one final attempt to reinvent himself. Agatha Christie-obsessed Alma faces her toughest case yet as she tries to help them all find what they've lost.
With trademark wit and playfulness, in this stunning linked short-story collection Jan Carson explores complex family dynamics, ageing, immigration, gender politics, the decline of the Church and the legacy of the Troubles. The Last Resort firmly places Carson as one of the most inventive and daring writers of her generation.
'One of the most exciting and original Northern Irish writers of her generation' SUNDAY TIMES
101 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 2021
8 people are currently reading
483 people want to read
About the author
Jan Carson
29 books241 followersJan Carson is a writer and community arts development officer currently based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She has a BA in English Literature from Queen’s University Belfast and an MLitt. In Theology and Contemporary Culture from St. Andrew’s University, Scotland. Jan has had short stories published in literary journals on both sides of the Atlantic, has had two of her plays produced for the Belfast stage and is a current recipient of the Arts Council NI’s Artist’s Career Enhancement Bursary. Her first novel, “Malcolm Orange Disappears” will be published by Liberties Press, Dublin on June 2nd 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 15, 2022
Okay, so the caravan-esque feel of this interlinked short-story collection is definitely a winner. And you know what else makes this one a would-be winner? Jan Carson is one very BEAUTIFUL human being! Meeting her, hearing her talk, and conversing with her at our campus Book Festival 2022 was an absolutely delightful experience. She exudes positive energy, and is so humane. To think that she is actually one of the most esteemed contemporary Irish writers, having also won the EU prize for Literature in 2019!
With this short-story collection – commissioned by BBC radio and written in lockdown – Carson sets out to bring together an unlikely bunch of ten characters: ‘a bunch of losers’ living on the margins of society, who meet up at the Last Resort (not quite an appealing prospect, is it?) – a static caravan site, Seacliff, on the Northern Coast of Ireland. The individual chapters present the point of view of each of the characters individually, with an exquisite twist in the final short story (no peeking!). The overarching narrative sees the cliff progressively on the brink of toppling over. Depicted through a vignette-like format, all of the characters come across as being variously ‘stuck’, and their potential unfulfilled. This is what brings them together – why else would they end up there in the first place? – but also what relegates them to their own perceived isolation and sense of exile; a direct consequence of the pain they carry inside them. Curiously, and this is where the oxymoronic nature of the static caravan becomes a metaphor of these characters’ existence, they appear to be – in some respects – attached to the very circumstances that paralyse them. And it takes an unexpected external intervention for them to realise that they might just need to let go…
In The Last Resort, Carson adopts her enticing wit, playfulness, and aspects of magic realism, all of which work to counterbalance and temper the heavier themes expounded through her characters: immigration, divorce, Alzheimer, family issues, and the Irish political context of the Troubles. Elements of the supernatural and mythology are to be found throughout, but the former becomes all the more pronounced in the latter and concluding parts of the story collection. Carson’s ability to achieve cohesion and create singular characters within the limitations of such a structured form is impressive to say the least. At the same time, with around 8 to 9 pages allotted to each character, one does feel that – overall – the collection somewhat lacks in depth. This is because, very understandably, it could not possibly have done more than it already does, in just around 100 pages!
3.5 stars. I would say that this is not her best work, but it is a lovely, quick, and imaginative read, with well-drawn characters, and a little bit of an Agatha Christie mystery going on in the background!
For those of you who would be interested to listen to the audio version, below is the link to the BBC Radio 4 recordings. Given the strong Irish accent, I do however recommend having a hard copy of the book – it makes it easier to follow.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
With this short-story collection – commissioned by BBC radio and written in lockdown – Carson sets out to bring together an unlikely bunch of ten characters: ‘a bunch of losers’ living on the margins of society, who meet up at the Last Resort (not quite an appealing prospect, is it?) – a static caravan site, Seacliff, on the Northern Coast of Ireland. The individual chapters present the point of view of each of the characters individually, with an exquisite twist in the final short story (no peeking!). The overarching narrative sees the cliff progressively on the brink of toppling over. Depicted through a vignette-like format, all of the characters come across as being variously ‘stuck’, and their potential unfulfilled. This is what brings them together – why else would they end up there in the first place? – but also what relegates them to their own perceived isolation and sense of exile; a direct consequence of the pain they carry inside them. Curiously, and this is where the oxymoronic nature of the static caravan becomes a metaphor of these characters’ existence, they appear to be – in some respects – attached to the very circumstances that paralyse them. And it takes an unexpected external intervention for them to realise that they might just need to let go…
This lot need to let go now. But they can’t. Or won’t. Or don’t know how to. They’ve been holding on for far too long.
In The Last Resort, Carson adopts her enticing wit, playfulness, and aspects of magic realism, all of which work to counterbalance and temper the heavier themes expounded through her characters: immigration, divorce, Alzheimer, family issues, and the Irish political context of the Troubles. Elements of the supernatural and mythology are to be found throughout, but the former becomes all the more pronounced in the latter and concluding parts of the story collection. Carson’s ability to achieve cohesion and create singular characters within the limitations of such a structured form is impressive to say the least. At the same time, with around 8 to 9 pages allotted to each character, one does feel that – overall – the collection somewhat lacks in depth. This is because, very understandably, it could not possibly have done more than it already does, in just around 100 pages!
3.5 stars. I would say that this is not her best work, but it is a lovely, quick, and imaginative read, with well-drawn characters, and a little bit of an Agatha Christie mystery going on in the background!
For those of you who would be interested to listen to the audio version, below is the link to the BBC Radio 4 recordings. Given the strong Irish accent, I do however recommend having a hard copy of the book – it makes it easier to follow.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
January 29, 2023
"Mummy doesn't eat dinner any more. She's had no appetite since she died."
I normally struggle with short books as it takes me a while to feel connected to the characters. This was not the case with this 100 page Irish interconnected short story collection. I absolute adored the quirky characters and the blend of reality and magical realism. Charming, heartwarming and funny - I can't wait to read more by this author.
November 10, 2021
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed this collection of interconnected stories. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the “residents” of a caravan park out in the middle of nowhere.
Each person is there for another reason with their own troubles to deal with.
And then things start going missing.....
I have read The Fire Startersby this author a few years ago and really enjoyed it but this one felt a lot more tongue in cheek with a touch of magical realism.
It’s a pity the book was so short – I could have read about the occupants of this sad little caravan park for much longer.
I really enjoyed this collection of interconnected stories. Each chapter is from the point of view of one of the “residents” of a caravan park out in the middle of nowhere.
Each person is there for another reason with their own troubles to deal with.
And then things start going missing.....
I have read The Fire Startersby this author a few years ago and really enjoyed it but this one felt a lot more tongue in cheek with a touch of magical realism.
It’s a pity the book was so short – I could have read about the occupants of this sad little caravan park for much longer.
March 5, 2022
The only downside in reading The Last Resort is that it was so short!
This is the novel I have been waiting for Jan Carson to write, for here is a writer who in her ordinary life has facilitated people from opposite sides in their way of thinking to sit down and write little stories, teaching them to think inside the shoes of another - in other words, teaching empathy.
Her first novel The Fire Starters comes from that place of darkness and indifference, when there is none. I found it disturbing.
Now, here we are in a caravan park on the North Coast of Ireland, in Ballycastle - a quick pause to look up the map and check out the geography, because this caravan park is located in and on Seacliff - I discover there are lots of Seacliff's in Northern Ireland, but this one is important because as the book opens we meet Pete, who now (reluctantly) runs the caravan and Frankie, who has rallied the troops, because it is the 50th birthday anniversary of Frankie's daughter Lynette, for whom they will place a memorial bench with a brass plaque at the top of the cliff.
It's the first day of the holiday season and most of these people have been coming here for years, though for some this may be their last. Not everyone is happy to be here, like Alma and her siblings, especially when they wake up one morning to discover their phones and her ipad are missing. Alma is into Agatha Christie and when she discovers they are not the only family that has something missing she decides to investigate, even if there hasn't been a murder. Yet! No really, no murder.
Alma's Mum Lois has a PhD in mythology and her thing is sea monsters. Monsters, wizards and demons, that's her parents thing, Harry Potter is for kids, she likes the real world, way scarier.
Each chapter is narrated by one of 10 characters in the caravan park and about each family we learn what is holding them back, what consumes their minds. And while it is not a murder and there is no smoking gun, there is the cliff - and from the beginning you sense its ominous presence, the way it draws everyone to its apex. We meet Alma again (my favourite character) as she trails around the caravan park interrogating her disapproving adult suspects. She's brilliant.
Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is, because of societal expectations, but finds it hard to follow through with her disapproval because she desperately wants a relationship with her grandson Max. She finds Alma strange and intense and curious.
So many great lines, so much humour, angst, regret, camaraderie as the story leads to its wild denouement on the seacliff, as the thing that's been holding them all together, holding them back, demands to be released.
Just brilliant.
This is the novel I have been waiting for Jan Carson to write, for here is a writer who in her ordinary life has facilitated people from opposite sides in their way of thinking to sit down and write little stories, teaching them to think inside the shoes of another - in other words, teaching empathy.
Her first novel The Fire Starters comes from that place of darkness and indifference, when there is none. I found it disturbing.
Now, here we are in a caravan park on the North Coast of Ireland, in Ballycastle - a quick pause to look up the map and check out the geography, because this caravan park is located in and on Seacliff - I discover there are lots of Seacliff's in Northern Ireland, but this one is important because as the book opens we meet Pete, who now (reluctantly) runs the caravan and Frankie, who has rallied the troops, because it is the 50th birthday anniversary of Frankie's daughter Lynette, for whom they will place a memorial bench with a brass plaque at the top of the cliff.
It's the first day of the holiday season and most of these people have been coming here for years, though for some this may be their last. Not everyone is happy to be here, like Alma and her siblings, especially when they wake up one morning to discover their phones and her ipad are missing. Alma is into Agatha Christie and when she discovers they are not the only family that has something missing she decides to investigate, even if there hasn't been a murder. Yet! No really, no murder.
It'd be easy to push someone over that cliff. It's so crumbly. You could make it look like an accident. I can think of at least three different times Agatha Christie killed somebody by shoving them off a cliff. If my iPad wasn't gone I'd google to see if there were more. I'm raging about losing my iPad. Now I have to run my investigation the old-fashioned way. Snooping around. Observing suspects. Taking notes on my jotter. Maybe it's better like this. Poirot never looked anything up on Wikipedia or checked suspects' alibis on Facebook. If Poirot was here, he'd say, forget the iPad, Alma. Use your leetle grey cells. I'm doing my best. I'm watching everyone, even Mum. It's always the person you least suspect.
Alma's Mum Lois has a PhD in mythology and her thing is sea monsters. Monsters, wizards and demons, that's her parents thing, Harry Potter is for kids, she likes the real world, way scarier.
Each chapter is narrated by one of 10 characters in the caravan park and about each family we learn what is holding them back, what consumes their minds. And while it is not a murder and there is no smoking gun, there is the cliff - and from the beginning you sense its ominous presence, the way it draws everyone to its apex. We meet Alma again (my favourite character) as she trails around the caravan park interrogating her disapproving adult suspects. She's brilliant.
Kathleen struggles to accept her daughter for who she is, because of societal expectations, but finds it hard to follow through with her disapproval because she desperately wants a relationship with her grandson Max. She finds Alma strange and intense and curious.
Lois answers all her questions. She talks to her weans like they're adults. When she split up with her husband, Alma was fit to tell me the ins and outs of the whole divorce. She was only ten. You have to protect a child that age. They're not old enough to know everything. Still, I have to say I envy them - calearied as they are - at least they talk to each other, really properly talk. We're all adults in this caravan but we'll spend the whole weekend talking about nothing. The weather. The baby. Whether or not to put the kettle on. Avoiding the elephant in the room because nobody wants to cause a scene.
So many great lines, so much humour, angst, regret, camaraderie as the story leads to its wild denouement on the seacliff, as the thing that's been holding them all together, holding them back, demands to be released.
Just brilliant.
November 3, 2021
BBC Listeners
August 10, 2021
The Last Resort is an atmospheric collection of 10 inter-connected short stories centered around Seacliff Caravan Park, perched on the side of a blustery, dark and dreary cliff in Northern Ireland.
Each story focuses on a different person from the collection of misfits who have fled to their individual caravans, all for a very different reason. These characters are portrayed beautifully and there's an immediate connection to each and every one. From Frankie who is mourning his daughters death, Anna trying to get rid of her mothers overbearing ghost, Kathleen struggling with her daughters sexuality to little Alma who is trying to make sense of what exactly it is everyone has lost.
The atmosphere is all encompassing and completely captivating. Carson uses a mystical blend of stark reality and magical realism to look at issues such as sexuality, immigration, ageing, uncomfortable family dynamics, alcoholism and the complexity that is Northern Ireland.
This book is getting nowhere near enough attention, don't let its short page count put you off. Although this book is small it is brimming full of deep emotions, unyielding wit, charm and a stunning darkness.
Each story focuses on a different person from the collection of misfits who have fled to their individual caravans, all for a very different reason. These characters are portrayed beautifully and there's an immediate connection to each and every one. From Frankie who is mourning his daughters death, Anna trying to get rid of her mothers overbearing ghost, Kathleen struggling with her daughters sexuality to little Alma who is trying to make sense of what exactly it is everyone has lost.
The atmosphere is all encompassing and completely captivating. Carson uses a mystical blend of stark reality and magical realism to look at issues such as sexuality, immigration, ageing, uncomfortable family dynamics, alcoholism and the complexity that is Northern Ireland.
This book is getting nowhere near enough attention, don't let its short page count put you off. Although this book is small it is brimming full of deep emotions, unyielding wit, charm and a stunning darkness.
February 9, 2024
This is a novella about a Northern Irish summer resort. It is made up of caravans (trailers), some of which have fallen into disrepair. There is a family who are strict evangelical Protestants. Another trailer is being used to provide shelter to migrants who need shelter, and do not have permission to live or work in Northern Ireland. There is a bereaved father who never recovered from the death of his young daughter, killed in a bombing, and more. The young man who is managing the site reluctantly. I enjoyed this tremendously. Carson portrays a place where a variety of people end up helping and supporting each other in surprising ways.
March 14, 2022
This one won't be on the blog.
I'm a fan of interlinked short story collections. The Last Resort takes place on a caravan park and the individuals who live there. Each chapter focuses on a theme such as abuse and broken marriages. The stories are linked through objects being stolen, so the book doubles as an Agatha Christie style mystery.
It's fun and clever - it also is a good primer to Jan Carson and the themes and magical realist elements that are found in her books.
I'm a fan of interlinked short story collections. The Last Resort takes place on a caravan park and the individuals who live there. Each chapter focuses on a theme such as abuse and broken marriages. The stories are linked through objects being stolen, so the book doubles as an Agatha Christie style mystery.
It's fun and clever - it also is a good primer to Jan Carson and the themes and magical realist elements that are found in her books.
March 22, 2022
Enthralling.
May 30, 2021
The people are divided is this ten interconnected short stories or is it a novella told from ten characters' points of view in ten chapters? I am for the latter. So short it is hard to say much about these folk in a Northern Irish all stuck in a caravan park together one rainy February weekend - except it was darkly magical.
June 18, 2025
‘I’m no longer small but the world is still massive’.
I love Jan Carson’s writing so very much.
I love Jan Carson’s writing so very much.
March 24, 2022
I think this might be my favourite read of the year so far. Utterly wonderful. Perfect for the sickish day in bed today.
A 100 page novella told in 10 interconnected short stories, each telling the story of one the people living or staying in onsite caravans (static in Irish) at a windswept and rather crumbling caravan park on the Northern Irish coastline.
I loved it so much, that I immediately sought out the equally delightful BBC production online and am listening to it in gorgeous Northern Irish accents.
A 100 page novella told in 10 interconnected short stories, each telling the story of one the people living or staying in onsite caravans (static in Irish) at a windswept and rather crumbling caravan park on the Northern Irish coastline.
I loved it so much, that I immediately sought out the equally delightful BBC production online and am listening to it in gorgeous Northern Irish accents.
July 5, 2021
Brilliant. Just brilliant. Captivating stories peopled by recognisable, complex characters distilled into this parabolic novella, that I gobbled up quicker than a seaside 99 icecream. I missed the Radio 4 readings of this due to my avoidance of speech radio in lockdown, but friends raved about it and this book. Was also a bit wary of reading it because caravan holidays around the coast of Northern Ireland in borrowed static caravans (though never in Ballycastle and certainly never in February) were the bane of my childhood, so I feared some sort of romanticised revisiting of this element of my life... but I should not have feared. I cannot recommend this enough and will now seek out the re-run of the readings now available via Radio Ulster.
April 26, 2021
Loved this so much, Jan Carson is one of my favourite authors, I really enjoy the blend of fantasy and reality in her work it is a very clever way to write about such an interesting place with a painful past as Northern Ireland. Her characters are amazing, well written, they come to life on the page, their use of the local dialect, their thoughts, I can easily picture them. Set in a caravan park near Bally castle this book is about the different characters who are spending the week off season in their caravans and each chapter focusses on a different person, reflecting the diversity and complexity of Northern Ireland today.
March 17, 2022
Veering towards a rating of 2 and a half stars.
It's been ages since I read an entire book in one short sitting. Usually it happens when I'm eager to get through an agonising read ...
This wasn't the worst reading experiences, truth be told.
The novella had many moments of great potential, and one can even find interesting and semi-exciting phrases sporadically placed in the novella, but it's never done with rhythm as Ali Smith succeeds with every artwork of hers. The ultimate reality is plain as Jane - unfortunately, it lacks Worthwhile Stylistic Gusto.
It's been ages since I read an entire book in one short sitting. Usually it happens when I'm eager to get through an agonising read ...
This wasn't the worst reading experiences, truth be told.
The novella had many moments of great potential, and one can even find interesting and semi-exciting phrases sporadically placed in the novella, but it's never done with rhythm as Ali Smith succeeds with every artwork of hers. The ultimate reality is plain as Jane - unfortunately, it lacks Worthwhile Stylistic Gusto.
August 16, 2022
It’s a fun little novel that keeps your interest and once it’s got you makes a profound point at the end. I appreciated its charm and liked the authors use of an unabashedly Northern Irish voice.
My big issue was the cast. There were a few inspired characters, but most seemed to be used as mouthpieces for a topical cause.
My big issue was the cast. There were a few inspired characters, but most seemed to be used as mouthpieces for a topical cause.
December 9, 2021
Short story collection of people who visit the bleak caravan park at Seacliff .Great characters cover everything from immigration ,gender politics,family breakdowns .Really enjoyed the writing and highly recommend.
August 28, 2024
I’m not going to review this, just going to say it’s bloody brilliant a 5 * for me
July 20, 2024
Beautifully done in only 100 pages!
The last resort tells so much in so little space, its astonishing! You come to know and sympatise with all the many characters introduced in the book each displaying such naked, true emotions about human slow and endless suffering (or maybe just hopelessness). All was wraped in delightfull dark comedy making the book a fun and light read dispite discussing heavy subjects.
A great gateway into irish literature and i thank the woman in the little bookstore in dublin for recomending this book for my stay.
I enjoyed it a lot and finished it as i was landing back home from dublin.
Spoilers without context:
It's a leap of faith!
The last resort tells so much in so little space, its astonishing! You come to know and sympatise with all the many characters introduced in the book each displaying such naked, true emotions about human slow and endless suffering (or maybe just hopelessness). All was wraped in delightfull dark comedy making the book a fun and light read dispite discussing heavy subjects.
A great gateway into irish literature and i thank the woman in the little bookstore in dublin for recomending this book for my stay.
I enjoyed it a lot and finished it as i was landing back home from dublin.
Spoilers without context:
It's a leap of faith!
July 12, 2021
This book, conceived during lockdown, is described in the acknowledgments as being “for anyone who’s ever spent a wet weekend up the north coast in a caravan”. As someone who spent every summer in a caravan by the seaside as a child, this book called out to me.
It is a novella comprised of interconnected short stories from a cast of characters in a caravan park on the North Antrim coast on a wet weekend in February.
The characters include a man mourning the death of his daughter on the site many years earlier, a young girl who is an avid Agatha Christie fan trying to solve the mystery of items gone missing from the caravan park, to a homeless Lithuanian man hiding out in a caravan having exhausted all other possibilities.
It’s unvarnished reality with lots of humour and a touch of magical realism, vividly told. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. 4/5⭐️
It is a novella comprised of interconnected short stories from a cast of characters in a caravan park on the North Antrim coast on a wet weekend in February.
The characters include a man mourning the death of his daughter on the site many years earlier, a young girl who is an avid Agatha Christie fan trying to solve the mystery of items gone missing from the caravan park, to a homeless Lithuanian man hiding out in a caravan having exhausted all other possibilities.
It’s unvarnished reality with lots of humour and a touch of magical realism, vividly told. I read it in one sitting and really enjoyed it. 4/5⭐️
May 20, 2021
It's a fascinating concept, a series of dramatic monologues linked by location - in this case the crumbling Seacliff caravan park, threatened as much by time and fashion as by coastal erosion. If each entry reads loosely like an Alan Bennett 'Talking Head', there is a progression through the accounts, most of which reference the memorial bench, the rapidly eroding cliff, the empty caravan tottering at the edge, the series of mysterious thefts...
Taken together, we get a finely imagined cross-section of contemporary Northern Ireland through a cast of misfits - a middle-aged single woman still minding her mother's ghost, new grandparents coming to terms with their lesbian daughter, a recovering alcoholic, a caravan crowded with homeless men, a teenage ghost recalling her flawed RUC father.
Recommended reading (or listening via BBC Radio 3)
Taken together, we get a finely imagined cross-section of contemporary Northern Ireland through a cast of misfits - a middle-aged single woman still minding her mother's ghost, new grandparents coming to terms with their lesbian daughter, a recovering alcoholic, a caravan crowded with homeless men, a teenage ghost recalling her flawed RUC father.
Recommended reading (or listening via BBC Radio 3)
May 14, 2021
The Last Resort presents ten stories, from the viewpoints of ten different guests on holiday at the Seacliff Caravan Park on the windswept north Antrim coast. These distinct characters are drawn with humanity and tenderness, as their lives mingle around eachother. Each of them has a personal and individual focus, but all are bound together by the death of 15-year-old Lynette who was killed in a car bomb 35 years earlier.
Carson examines a width of emotions and universal issues, including family dynamics, ageing, gender, and immigration. She deals with each character and their story with compassion and humanity, and manages to portray the darkest of matter with wit and light heartedness.
Read it!
Carson examines a width of emotions and universal issues, including family dynamics, ageing, gender, and immigration. She deals with each character and their story with compassion and humanity, and manages to portray the darkest of matter with wit and light heartedness.
Read it!
December 31, 2023
I enjoyed these interlinked short stories set in Northern Ireland. Each story focuses on a different individual in the caravan park community, and their particular struggles and difficulties. Some themes are heavy but the writer handles them with grace and a sense of humour.
The way the book was structured and some of the personnel reminded me of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. This book has a different setting and is much, much shorter, but if you liked that one you might enjoy this one too.
The way the book was structured and some of the personnel reminded me of The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon. This book has a different setting and is much, much shorter, but if you liked that one you might enjoy this one too.
February 26, 2022
Such an amazing book. Jan Carson is in a league of her own. In less than 100 pages (and without leaving a caravan park) this explores Northern Ireland through a trademark style of wit, humour and anger. The incorporation of almost pedestrian magical elements is amazing, where sea monsters and telekineticts from Cullybackey aren’t that big a deal, sure we don’t want to make a fuss and we won’t be getting any notions about anything. This wonderfully captures the sometimes surreal aspects of living in Northern Ireland and how we blithely deal with the complexities therein.
December 3, 2023
Ten interlinked short stories, each told from the POV of a caravan-dweller in a Northern Ireland seaside trailer park. Not as ironic and sharp as Carson's other stories. I found the attempt at earnestness a bit naive, and the voices all blended into one. Nevertheless, characters emerge easily from the slim volume, fully formed and believable - that takes true writerly talent. My favourite was Anna, a woman still carrying her mother's oppressive voice with her after her death.
August 19, 2021
I loved these interlocking stories. Though the stories are short, Jan Carson puts real personality into each quirky and heartfelt character. Cannot wait for her next book. As others have pointed out, it is a real treat to listen to these stories read by Irish actors for BBC radio: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000...
April 24, 2021
Absolutely brilliant. Jan Carson is such a unique talent in storytelling. Funny, heart warming, challenging and inspiring all at once. These 10 interconnected characters and the Seacliff Caravan Park will stay with you long after the final page.
May 18, 2022
This is a quick quirky read of a book! It's set in Ireland at the Seacliff caravan park and each chapter is a different viewpoint of a resident who has a caravan there - the stories are linked - some are sad - some are funny. A good easy read
April 8, 2021
I loved every one of these short stories, they are funny, warm, entertaining and thought-provoking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews