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Common Decency
In an apartment building in Belfast, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss.
Since her mother's death, Lily has withdrawn from the world, trapped between grief and anger. She has to break out of this damaging cycle - but how?
Upstairs, Siobhán is consumed by her affair with a married man. Her days revolve around his sporadic texts and rare visits. She barely notices the strange girl who lives below and dawdles in the foyer.
But Lily is keeping a close eye on her neighbour, whose life seems so much better and more fulfilling than her own. When resentment evolves into something darker and more urgent, she decides to teach Siobhán a lesson...
From the critically acclaimed author of Tennis Lessons comes a darkly powerful novel about two lives running closely in parallel but divided by gulfs of misunderstanding. With boundless wisdom and deep empathy, Dickey charts the anonymity and hidden intimacies of modern existence, and our profound human need to connect.
Since her mother's death, Lily has withdrawn from the world, trapped between grief and anger. She has to break out of this damaging cycle - but how?
Upstairs, Siobhán is consumed by her affair with a married man. Her days revolve around his sporadic texts and rare visits. She barely notices the strange girl who lives below and dawdles in the foyer.
But Lily is keeping a close eye on her neighbour, whose life seems so much better and more fulfilling than her own. When resentment evolves into something darker and more urgent, she decides to teach Siobhán a lesson...
From the critically acclaimed author of Tennis Lessons comes a darkly powerful novel about two lives running closely in parallel but divided by gulfs of misunderstanding. With boundless wisdom and deep empathy, Dickey charts the anonymity and hidden intimacies of modern existence, and our profound human need to connect.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 21, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 266 reviews
December 31, 2024
Lucky library find 📚
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I picked up this book due to the sole reason that it is set on my home turf 🏡 and if you will probably know by now, that books set in my home town are my jam! I randomly picked up this book, turned to the synopsis and couldn’t believe that I was seeing Belfast in the first sentence…it was an instant pick - the real test was, would it live up to my expectations?
My initial reaction to this book was that it was fairly short and snappy at 300 pages and an easy reading style of writing; another win! So let’s get into the story…
Belfast. Modern day. In an apartment building, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss. Susannah blesses us two POV in this novel - Lily and Siobhán. Lily has withdrawn herself from the world, trapped with grief and anger, since her mother’s death. It is a cycle she must learn to break out of but how? Meanwhile, in the room upstairs, Siobhán is consumed by her own problems. She, however, is trapped by romantic feelings for a married man. Her days revolve around him, and so consequently her mood depends upon his sporadic tests and irregular visits.
The two are quite a curious pair. And it is particularly interesting seeing a very similar world from their different perspectives. They both live in the same apartment block, yet experience life in two distinct ways. While they both have contrasting personalities, they both struggle with feelings of love and loss.
Despite living under the same roof, Siobhán barely notices Lily, whereas Lily keeps a close eye on her neighbour. Lily is an interesting, insular creature, who struggles to make friends. She watches from the outside, looking in. Often, reminiscing over the close relationship she had with her mother as she struggles with heartbreaking feelings of grief 💔 some of these sections were absolutely devastating to read 🥺On the other hand, Siobhán seems to have it all-together; from Lily’s perspective anyway. A successful teaching job, friends and even a (albeit older and married) lover.
However, the calmness of this apartment building is stirred when Siobhán begins to notice misplacements and strange objects appearing in her flat…resentment, on Lily’s behalf, is in the air and it slowly evolves into something darker than we could have dreamt at the beginning of this novel. It was incredibly engaging and entertaining to watch how the two women’s lives ran in parallel to one another; so close but yet, so different. Due to the fact that Siobhán was having an affair, I found it hard to like and connect with her. And while I did feel her pain in some ways, I couldn’t help but connect more deeply with Lily. That being said, Lily’s deep, dark obsession with what was going on in the floor above was highly disturbing 😳 but thrilling all the same; it definitely added another dimension to this story. They are both very complex creatures- but aren’t we all?
Overall, this book is a rather dark depiction of emotions and obsessions. It gets right to the raw and real range of feelings one experiences in certain circumstances. This is the first of Dickey’s novels that I have read, however, I will certainly be looking to pick up more of her work. Particularly as she is based in Belfast. Anyone else love supporting local authors? I also absolutely adore reading about streets and places I know so well. Brilliant, captivating read all round - would highly recommend 👏🏼
‘A real person, asking for empathy, is always going to stay unknowable, because no matter how hard you try to comprehend their pain, you’ll always be limited by the mechanism of your own experience’
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I picked up this book due to the sole reason that it is set on my home turf 🏡 and if you will probably know by now, that books set in my home town are my jam! I randomly picked up this book, turned to the synopsis and couldn’t believe that I was seeing Belfast in the first sentence…it was an instant pick - the real test was, would it live up to my expectations?
My initial reaction to this book was that it was fairly short and snappy at 300 pages and an easy reading style of writing; another win! So let’s get into the story…
Belfast. Modern day. In an apartment building, two women wrestle with the sorrows and spectres of love and loss. Susannah blesses us two POV in this novel - Lily and Siobhán. Lily has withdrawn herself from the world, trapped with grief and anger, since her mother’s death. It is a cycle she must learn to break out of but how? Meanwhile, in the room upstairs, Siobhán is consumed by her own problems. She, however, is trapped by romantic feelings for a married man. Her days revolve around him, and so consequently her mood depends upon his sporadic tests and irregular visits.
The two are quite a curious pair. And it is particularly interesting seeing a very similar world from their different perspectives. They both live in the same apartment block, yet experience life in two distinct ways. While they both have contrasting personalities, they both struggle with feelings of love and loss.
Despite living under the same roof, Siobhán barely notices Lily, whereas Lily keeps a close eye on her neighbour. Lily is an interesting, insular creature, who struggles to make friends. She watches from the outside, looking in. Often, reminiscing over the close relationship she had with her mother as she struggles with heartbreaking feelings of grief 💔 some of these sections were absolutely devastating to read 🥺On the other hand, Siobhán seems to have it all-together; from Lily’s perspective anyway. A successful teaching job, friends and even a (albeit older and married) lover.
However, the calmness of this apartment building is stirred when Siobhán begins to notice misplacements and strange objects appearing in her flat…resentment, on Lily’s behalf, is in the air and it slowly evolves into something darker than we could have dreamt at the beginning of this novel. It was incredibly engaging and entertaining to watch how the two women’s lives ran in parallel to one another; so close but yet, so different. Due to the fact that Siobhán was having an affair, I found it hard to like and connect with her. And while I did feel her pain in some ways, I couldn’t help but connect more deeply with Lily. That being said, Lily’s deep, dark obsession with what was going on in the floor above was highly disturbing 😳 but thrilling all the same; it definitely added another dimension to this story. They are both very complex creatures- but aren’t we all?
Overall, this book is a rather dark depiction of emotions and obsessions. It gets right to the raw and real range of feelings one experiences in certain circumstances. This is the first of Dickey’s novels that I have read, however, I will certainly be looking to pick up more of her work. Particularly as she is based in Belfast. Anyone else love supporting local authors? I also absolutely adore reading about streets and places I know so well. Brilliant, captivating read all round - would highly recommend 👏🏼
‘A real person, asking for empathy, is always going to stay unknowable, because no matter how hard you try to comprehend their pain, you’ll always be limited by the mechanism of your own experience’
October 26, 2022
This book had potential but it was entirely wasted. Monotonous and disjointed. Unlikable and plain characters. Why would you have a character creep into someone else's flat, mess with their things, build some tension and then just drop it without making something out of it?
July 12, 2022
god, i do not have coherent thoughts about this book.
Susannah Dickey's prose is excellent. i was fresh from reading her debut Tennis Lessons when i requested this ARC because i was incredibly captivated by how Dickey strings together words and sentences. her control over the language is amazing and the way she describes ordinary things in life resonates with me.
i am left devastated by this book. not to sound like a depressed person but god it is so comforting to read similar life experiences and observations in a book. there is something so satisfying to have the thoughts in my brain translated to words on page, and to read it over and over again— as if the repetition of these words will help me feel better about myself, to see them outside and separate from myself, knowing someone else feels exactly the same way. Susannah Dickey is my new favorite author. i am excited to see what she puts out next!
ARC received in exchange for an honest review
Susannah Dickey's prose is excellent. i was fresh from reading her debut Tennis Lessons when i requested this ARC because i was incredibly captivated by how Dickey strings together words and sentences. her control over the language is amazing and the way she describes ordinary things in life resonates with me.
i am left devastated by this book. not to sound like a depressed person but god it is so comforting to read similar life experiences and observations in a book. there is something so satisfying to have the thoughts in my brain translated to words on page, and to read it over and over again— as if the repetition of these words will help me feel better about myself, to see them outside and separate from myself, knowing someone else feels exactly the same way. Susannah Dickey is my new favorite author. i am excited to see what she puts out next!
ARC received in exchange for an honest review
July 26, 2022
books set on home soil are my jam and if you don't know that by now, this is the last time i will say it. if you put a book set in belfast in front of me, you best bet i'll read it within 24 hours and obsess over it for the rest of my life - enter susannah dickey's latest release, common decency.
heralded as a dark depiction of obsession, intrigue and emotion, the novel takes place in an apartment complex in belfast. lily, struggling to come to terms with her mother's death after a terminal illness, has recently moved down from derry. a peculiar, insular person, lily struggles to form friendships with those who pass through her life. instead, she reminisces over her close relationship to her single parent in what can only be described as some of the most chilling and heart-breaking manifestations of grief that i've ever read. soon, lily takes an unusual interest in siobhan, her upstairs neighbour. on the surface, shiv appears to have it all - a successful teaching job (and let me tell ya, that is not easy to obtain in ni), fuckloads of friends and a mysterious relationship with an older married man. slowly, siobhan begins to notice strange occurrences taking place in her flat - misplacements and objects turning up out of nowhere. is her affair and obsession with her lover starting to consume her? or is something more sinister at play concerning the strange girl in the flat below.
dickey's latest novel is all-consuming. by now, we've all read novels that follow one or more of the tropes discussed in common decency but believe me, none of them are presented like this. the novel is so meticulously well-written, i had to consult professor google on more than a handful of occasions to get my bearings with some of the language. but dickey's prose is the perfect blend of colloquial and formal, adding to the detached quality of the novel itself. i thoroughly enjoyed the characterisation of siobhan who is the quintessential contemporary young belfast woman. she felt real, honest and unashamed of her emotions and actions, a quality that i really appreciate. there was something strangely compelling about lily, who is practically shiv's direct antithesis. even though i didn't necessarily enjoy a lot of her actions, you can't help but feel empathy for her particularly when you consider the context of social and political issues in northern ireland. ni has the poorest quality of mental health care in the uk, yet one of the highest rate of diagnosis and suicide. dickey's depiction of mental health and grief is so jarring yet so coherent and one of the most open presentations of a vital issue that is continuously pushed aside.
common decency is a wild ride. dickey cleverly incorporates a number of cross-genre tropes and motifs, yet goes on to create something that feels so fresh and unique. the language at times is certainly difficult to grip, yet adds to the intrigue surrounding both characters. sickening, heart-breaking and intimate, dickey is a class a writer. a huge than you to doubleday for my review copy!
heralded as a dark depiction of obsession, intrigue and emotion, the novel takes place in an apartment complex in belfast. lily, struggling to come to terms with her mother's death after a terminal illness, has recently moved down from derry. a peculiar, insular person, lily struggles to form friendships with those who pass through her life. instead, she reminisces over her close relationship to her single parent in what can only be described as some of the most chilling and heart-breaking manifestations of grief that i've ever read. soon, lily takes an unusual interest in siobhan, her upstairs neighbour. on the surface, shiv appears to have it all - a successful teaching job (and let me tell ya, that is not easy to obtain in ni), fuckloads of friends and a mysterious relationship with an older married man. slowly, siobhan begins to notice strange occurrences taking place in her flat - misplacements and objects turning up out of nowhere. is her affair and obsession with her lover starting to consume her? or is something more sinister at play concerning the strange girl in the flat below.
dickey's latest novel is all-consuming. by now, we've all read novels that follow one or more of the tropes discussed in common decency but believe me, none of them are presented like this. the novel is so meticulously well-written, i had to consult professor google on more than a handful of occasions to get my bearings with some of the language. but dickey's prose is the perfect blend of colloquial and formal, adding to the detached quality of the novel itself. i thoroughly enjoyed the characterisation of siobhan who is the quintessential contemporary young belfast woman. she felt real, honest and unashamed of her emotions and actions, a quality that i really appreciate. there was something strangely compelling about lily, who is practically shiv's direct antithesis. even though i didn't necessarily enjoy a lot of her actions, you can't help but feel empathy for her particularly when you consider the context of social and political issues in northern ireland. ni has the poorest quality of mental health care in the uk, yet one of the highest rate of diagnosis and suicide. dickey's depiction of mental health and grief is so jarring yet so coherent and one of the most open presentations of a vital issue that is continuously pushed aside.
common decency is a wild ride. dickey cleverly incorporates a number of cross-genre tropes and motifs, yet goes on to create something that feels so fresh and unique. the language at times is certainly difficult to grip, yet adds to the intrigue surrounding both characters. sickening, heart-breaking and intimate, dickey is a class a writer. a huge than you to doubleday for my review copy!
January 9, 2023
2.5 stars, but rounding up here.
Felt as though I read the book with a dictionary on standby. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it felt as though the vocabulary was convoluted and was just there to show how expansive a vocab the author has? I don't mind that not much happened, but both of the characters were pretty unlikeable so I found it hard to care much about what happened to either of them. The pacing was fab though- even though not much was happening, I felt really compelled to keep reading and make it to the end.
Felt as though I read the book with a dictionary on standby. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it felt as though the vocabulary was convoluted and was just there to show how expansive a vocab the author has? I don't mind that not much happened, but both of the characters were pretty unlikeable so I found it hard to care much about what happened to either of them. The pacing was fab though- even though not much was happening, I felt really compelled to keep reading and make it to the end.
July 10, 2022
Really not sure what to make of this book. I liked the authors writing style but the story felt very disjointed and never really same together for me. I didn't connect with the primary character's and many peripheral characters in place that often felt surplus to requirements. 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.
February 9, 2023
That‘s my kind of book!
As I was reading other reviews I realized I was not the only one constantly looking up words from this book.
The humour was just as dry as I like it.
As I was reading other reviews I realized I was not the only one constantly looking up words from this book.
The humour was just as dry as I like it.
April 23, 2023
I’d be having so much fun reading about Siobhán running around being a minx then Lily would appear and do something so weird and ruin the vibe 😭
December 30, 2022
ughhhhh i thought i was gonna love this book but i was so bored 😐 this took me almost a month to read which is insane and speaks to how much i was dragging my heels picking this book back up. i was getting interested around page 250 but then this build up and climax you think is going to happen of two characters confronting each other doesn’t happen… what? i enjoyed siobhan’s sorry but holy fuck could i not care LESS about lily wow. i mostly just feel like there is so much lost potential in a story like this, could have been great 2/5 stars sorry susannah happy new year lol (also my vocabulary is not strong enough for this book?!?!? i found the writing style a little pretentious if i’m honest)
June 6, 2024
I just didn’t gel with this book, it was just kind of all over the show. There was some super big weird words in here that I just didn’t understand and had to keep searching up. The story was weird and the two main characters were just annoying.
October 2, 2023
Bizarre story line. Found it hard to follow when googling words every two mins. Don’t really get the ending.
August 3, 2022
Lily and Siobhán are two young women living in the same apartment building, but who don’t know each other really at all. Lily is still reeling from the recent loss of her mother, and Siobhán is a teacher navigating her relationship with a married man. Fundamentally, this is a book about relationships, and how the relationships we enter, whether they’re platonic, familial, or romantic, end up defining us.
What I especially loved about this book was the parallels drawn between both women and the themes of loss, grief, and love that surround them. Siobhán’s story line was my favorite as I found her struggle to find and feel loved relatable and her perceived solution in being promiscuous was really interesting. Lily is a very odd women who does very odd things, I had a harder time liking her, but the flashbacks of her with her mother were so tender and funny.
Really I think both women feel an injustice has been done to them, and so everything they do is an attempt to rectify that injustice: Lily’s injustice of feeling alone, and Siobhàn’s injustice of not being given back the love she gives. And yet, it’s like they have purposely put themselves in these situations: Lily refuses to socialize or make friends, and Siobhán chooses to date a married man. And they do nothing to take them out of these sotuations, really, which is the aspect I found most interesting and liked the most - this pointless self-sabotage.
If you like “sad girl” literature, women who don’t know what they’re doing, or Irish literature, then Common Decency is the book for you!
What I especially loved about this book was the parallels drawn between both women and the themes of loss, grief, and love that surround them. Siobhán’s story line was my favorite as I found her struggle to find and feel loved relatable and her perceived solution in being promiscuous was really interesting. Lily is a very odd women who does very odd things, I had a harder time liking her, but the flashbacks of her with her mother were so tender and funny.
Really I think both women feel an injustice has been done to them, and so everything they do is an attempt to rectify that injustice: Lily’s injustice of feeling alone, and Siobhàn’s injustice of not being given back the love she gives. And yet, it’s like they have purposely put themselves in these situations: Lily refuses to socialize or make friends, and Siobhán chooses to date a married man. And they do nothing to take them out of these sotuations, really, which is the aspect I found most interesting and liked the most - this pointless self-sabotage.
If you like “sad girl” literature, women who don’t know what they’re doing, or Irish literature, then Common Decency is the book for you!
August 14, 2023
BFB - boring fucking book
December 20, 2022
Ah yes, here we have yet another #sadgirllit recommendation for ya !
Without giving too much of the plot away, Common Decency follows -through an alternating dual narrative, the mixed, messy -and often let’s face it, rather mundane lives, of two young women, living in a apartment building in Belfast.
Firstly I must admit, I’m still unsure whether I liked this book or not.
I definitely admired the way Dickey explored the many parallels shared between both women -particularly when it came to themes of grief and loneliness, and how they each navigate and attempt to “fill” this sense of emptiness. Whether that be through romantic partners *cough* affairs *cough* , work, friends (more like acquaintances) or -in the case of one woman, obsession …
I think it was also really interesting to see the way Dickey explored the complexities when it came to their relationships -particularly to their mothers, and how -even though Lily was clearly grieving the death of her mother (constantly reminiscing over moments -imagined or from memory together) neither relationship was seen as “perfect”.
Personally I always find it incredibly refreshing to see (read) any character -particularly female (and here we have quite a few) who are, let’s face it, NOT the most likeable, “successful” , morally correct -ok they weren’t wholly relatable either … I mean, lily with her weird collection of nail clippings and dead skin that she kept in a mug !? Plus Siobhan with her PAINFULLY infuriating insecurities and passivity (mainly when it came to men) in her life, but still, I’d rather read about that, than the painfully boring and cliché alternative.
That said, I did feel slightly mislead by the books synopsis. Making it out to be me more of a dark, psychological thriller than it turned out to be. Though there was some semblance of slow building tension, it never really amounted to much. And to be honest, felt rather anticlimactic towards the end.
Entertaining, but also, kinda boring ?
3 fairly average stars
PS -thanks again to the publishers for sending me a copy to review!
Without giving too much of the plot away, Common Decency follows -through an alternating dual narrative, the mixed, messy -and often let’s face it, rather mundane lives, of two young women, living in a apartment building in Belfast.
Firstly I must admit, I’m still unsure whether I liked this book or not.
I definitely admired the way Dickey explored the many parallels shared between both women -particularly when it came to themes of grief and loneliness, and how they each navigate and attempt to “fill” this sense of emptiness. Whether that be through romantic partners *cough* affairs *cough* , work, friends (more like acquaintances) or -in the case of one woman, obsession …
I think it was also really interesting to see the way Dickey explored the complexities when it came to their relationships -particularly to their mothers, and how -even though Lily was clearly grieving the death of her mother (constantly reminiscing over moments -imagined or from memory together) neither relationship was seen as “perfect”.
Personally I always find it incredibly refreshing to see (read) any character -particularly female (and here we have quite a few) who are, let’s face it, NOT the most likeable, “successful” , morally correct -ok they weren’t wholly relatable either … I mean, lily with her weird collection of nail clippings and dead skin that she kept in a mug !? Plus Siobhan with her PAINFULLY infuriating insecurities and passivity (mainly when it came to men) in her life, but still, I’d rather read about that, than the painfully boring and cliché alternative.
That said, I did feel slightly mislead by the books synopsis. Making it out to be me more of a dark, psychological thriller than it turned out to be. Though there was some semblance of slow building tension, it never really amounted to much. And to be honest, felt rather anticlimactic towards the end.
Entertaining, but also, kinda boring ?
3 fairly average stars
PS -thanks again to the publishers for sending me a copy to review!
September 30, 2023
Very entertaining in its bleakness. Some of the witty dialogue and some of the psychology seemed contrived to me (Andrew's development, Lily's transgressions), but Siobhán is a fantastic character, and the resolution of the narrative is very satisfying.
February 20, 2024
Good observation of people and made me laugh at points. However, I found the two main characters too unsufferable at times, which made me feel a little disconnected from the story. I liked the idea of one girl tampering with another's life, however, I felt we never really saw the results of this and she could have taken it further.
August 19, 2023
Don't think I've ever gave a book a 1 star. This bored me senseless only reason didn't give up was because it was set in Belfast I rhought would get better but it didn't. Hours wasted I will never get back
April 21, 2025
2.5 🌟 the choppiest writing ever i give up
September 6, 2022
I read and loved Tennis Lessons last summer. Susannah Dickey is a great writer with her own unique style. She has a masterful turn of phrase and there’s a delicious darkness to her writing that leaves you feeling uncomfortable but wanting more. Alas, her new book Common Decency didn’t work for me.
Two women, Lily and Siobhán live in the same tower block in Belfast. They’re both going through a messy time in their life - Lily is navigating all-consuming grief and depression in the aftermath of her mother’s death. Siobhán is entangled with a married man who is using her for his own convenience when it suits him. Lily becomes obsessed with Siobhán, her fixation serving as a type of distraction from her own grim, lonely lot. Siobhán is oblivious. A third woman living in the same block, Caz, becomes inadvertently embroiled in the odd goings-on.
The story has all the makings of a great novel but it didn’t come together. The characters were too similar in many ways - Lily’s mother sounded a lot like Siobhán bizarrely. The episodes did not knit together well. None of the characters were likeable. Siobhán’s relationship with Andrew was interesting in a car-crash sense (hard to look away) but it wasn’t enough to save the book. The epilogue was incongruous and just left me shrugging, I didn’t care.
I do enjoy Dickey’s writing so I’ll read her next work. This one just didn’t do it for me.
*Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC via @netgalley. Common Decency was published in July. As always, this is an honest review.*
Two women, Lily and Siobhán live in the same tower block in Belfast. They’re both going through a messy time in their life - Lily is navigating all-consuming grief and depression in the aftermath of her mother’s death. Siobhán is entangled with a married man who is using her for his own convenience when it suits him. Lily becomes obsessed with Siobhán, her fixation serving as a type of distraction from her own grim, lonely lot. Siobhán is oblivious. A third woman living in the same block, Caz, becomes inadvertently embroiled in the odd goings-on.
The story has all the makings of a great novel but it didn’t come together. The characters were too similar in many ways - Lily’s mother sounded a lot like Siobhán bizarrely. The episodes did not knit together well. None of the characters were likeable. Siobhán’s relationship with Andrew was interesting in a car-crash sense (hard to look away) but it wasn’t enough to save the book. The epilogue was incongruous and just left me shrugging, I didn’t care.
I do enjoy Dickey’s writing so I’ll read her next work. This one just didn’t do it for me.
*Many thanks to the publisher for the ARC via @netgalley. Common Decency was published in July. As always, this is an honest review.*
November 4, 2024
DNF-ed at page 62.
I really tried with this. The author was thanked in the acknowledgments of Close to Home by Michael Magee, so I was hoping for a similarly realist but beautiful Belfast novel.
But this was horrible to read: every description of a person the two protagonists came into contact with was so sneering and mean-spirited, the vocabulary used was unnecessarily thesaurus-dependent and there was nothing funny or moving about it.
I kept hoping the grim descriptions of bodies and food would stop but it kept getting gradually worse? I knew I had to stop when we got to Siobhán’s absolutely disgusting - I say this as someone who got through Tampa by Alyssa Nutting just fine - POV on the primary school children she taught. It was at that point that I had to accept this would be a constant theme of the novel: blanket mean-spiritedness in every direction, for no apparent thematic or critical purpose.
I wonder if the author was aiming for a tone reminiscent of Tampa or Lolita? If so, the prose didn’t even work for that because it was an utter slog to get through each page.
I really tried with this. The author was thanked in the acknowledgments of Close to Home by Michael Magee, so I was hoping for a similarly realist but beautiful Belfast novel.
But this was horrible to read: every description of a person the two protagonists came into contact with was so sneering and mean-spirited, the vocabulary used was unnecessarily thesaurus-dependent and there was nothing funny or moving about it.
I kept hoping the grim descriptions of bodies and food would stop but it kept getting gradually worse? I knew I had to stop when we got to Siobhán’s absolutely disgusting - I say this as someone who got through Tampa by Alyssa Nutting just fine - POV on the primary school children she taught. It was at that point that I had to accept this would be a constant theme of the novel: blanket mean-spiritedness in every direction, for no apparent thematic or critical purpose.
I wonder if the author was aiming for a tone reminiscent of Tampa or Lolita? If so, the prose didn’t even work for that because it was an utter slog to get through each page.
June 1, 2023
This book was utterly confusing and disjointed.
The writer is undoubtedly a great writer with a incredible vocabulary however the book didn’t make much sense, there was no explanation to why characters did the things they did, the ending didn’t wrap the book up and leaves readers with so many questions.
The writer is undoubtedly a great writer with a incredible vocabulary however the book didn’t make much sense, there was no explanation to why characters did the things they did, the ending didn’t wrap the book up and leaves readers with so many questions.
September 1, 2023
⭐️⭐️💫
2.5
This had such great potential but it really didn’t go anywhere. The story started to snowball at one point & then hit a brick wall.
I wasn’t particularly excited each time I picked this up, although I did enjoy parts of it. I quite liked the writing style, it’s just a shame there wasn’t much substance to the actual story.
Forgettable. Bland. Mundane.
2.5
This had such great potential but it really didn’t go anywhere. The story started to snowball at one point & then hit a brick wall.
I wasn’t particularly excited each time I picked this up, although I did enjoy parts of it. I quite liked the writing style, it’s just a shame there wasn’t much substance to the actual story.
Forgettable. Bland. Mundane.
January 10, 2023
really beautiful prose and so much potential but the ending was so disappointing it felt like the whole book was leading up to something which never happened
September 15, 2025
So much potential squandered! Not happy x
January 31, 2025
Didn’t vibe with the writing style, felt uninspired
January 18, 2024
"she tries to find herself in the poem, can't; can't find much of anything in the poem. she wonders if maybe she's not meant to understand it, then wonders if wondering this is an easy way of exonerating herself of stupidity. she's never really known what to do with art that doesn't have at least a glancing familiarity."
esse quote criou um triplex na minha cabeça: será que nós somos capazes de apreciar qualquer tipo de arte, mesmo aquelas com as quais não nos identificamos?
achei a ideia do livro muito boa, mas a dinâmica entre as duas personagens (ponto principal da história) é pouco desenvolvida. adoraria ver uma boa adaptação desse livro.
esse quote criou um triplex na minha cabeça: será que nós somos capazes de apreciar qualquer tipo de arte, mesmo aquelas com as quais não nos identificamos?
achei a ideia do livro muito boa, mas a dinâmica entre as duas personagens (ponto principal da história) é pouco desenvolvida. adoraria ver uma boa adaptação desse livro.
July 30, 2024
3.5 stars
July 19, 2022
This is a story about two women, Lily and Siobhan, whose lives run in parallel but we get to know their past and backgrounds separately. Both women are unbelievably complex, and the characterisation is incredible.
It was easy to feel empathy for Lily from the start as it was clear how much she missed her late mother. Siobhan, on the other hand, seemed like a shallow person on the surface at the start of the book. But the author relentlessly interrogates this character and digs deep into Siobhan’s insecurity, fear and inner conflict, helping readers to understand her pretentiousness, arrogance and her self-destructive behaviour. I came to understand why she is so obsessed with her love affair with a married man. Not necessarily likeable but she is one of the most interesting characters I read about. I gradually started to feel empathy towards her and was strongly drawn to her, like I really wanted to understand her. What’s under all the layers?
The author interweaves questions on human nature, class, religion and identity into this complex story, and I found that interesting and engaging as well. But at the end of the day, the book is about how our relationship with our parents formed who we are today and still impacts our view of ourselves and our relationships with others. Lily seems to have reached peace, but Siobhan is still processing. It’s a hard read. But this author has a really good sense of cynical humour which helps. And you see that in the epilogue as well.
I LOVED the epilogue! It’s actually my fave part of this book. The epilogue told by the third character in this book is like the punchline and teaches us a lesson. That we often see what we want to see in others to suit our own purposes. A brilliant, surprising way to end the book. So clever. So I hope you’ll keep reading til the end if you picked this up!
It was easy to feel empathy for Lily from the start as it was clear how much she missed her late mother. Siobhan, on the other hand, seemed like a shallow person on the surface at the start of the book. But the author relentlessly interrogates this character and digs deep into Siobhan’s insecurity, fear and inner conflict, helping readers to understand her pretentiousness, arrogance and her self-destructive behaviour. I came to understand why she is so obsessed with her love affair with a married man. Not necessarily likeable but she is one of the most interesting characters I read about. I gradually started to feel empathy towards her and was strongly drawn to her, like I really wanted to understand her. What’s under all the layers?
The author interweaves questions on human nature, class, religion and identity into this complex story, and I found that interesting and engaging as well. But at the end of the day, the book is about how our relationship with our parents formed who we are today and still impacts our view of ourselves and our relationships with others. Lily seems to have reached peace, but Siobhan is still processing. It’s a hard read. But this author has a really good sense of cynical humour which helps. And you see that in the epilogue as well.
I LOVED the epilogue! It’s actually my fave part of this book. The epilogue told by the third character in this book is like the punchline and teaches us a lesson. That we often see what we want to see in others to suit our own purposes. A brilliant, surprising way to end the book. So clever. So I hope you’ll keep reading til the end if you picked this up!
![Profile Image for Amy [adleilareads].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1652548137i%2F91470664._UY200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
August 23, 2022
Lily and Siobhan live in an apartment building in Belfast and both are grappling with their own loneliness, love and loss despite living strikingly different lives. Lily has shut herself out from the world following the death of her mother and Siobhan is consumed with her affair with a married man and his sporadic visits and messages.
Both characters have some unlikable traits however I found myself emphasising with the pair. I was able to relate to Siobhan as a school teacher and many of the conversations she had with colleagues made me chuckle, oh and the late evenings making resources pissing off the care takers. Lily’s story however made me feel sad and at times quite awkward, especially as her obsession with Siobhan grew - who she believed lived a more exciting life. However, the depiction of grief throughout the book was very touching and I was desperate for her to come out of the other side. The moments where Lily sat rewatching the Wimbledon match on YouTube, to relive her past memories, broke me.
There is something about reading the mundanity of everyday life that I enjoy and Dickey did a wonderful job of portraying this and how we all experience similar thoughts and feelings regardless of our circumstances.
All being said, I did find the ending a little disjointed and despite Lily learning a lesson not to take people and things at face value, I didn’t see where the story line was going when she was breaking into her apartment.
Overall, it was a great exploration of character as there wasn’t much in terms of plot. But I loved the writing style and how their pasts were explored, especially Lily’s through mundane memories and conversations with her mum. These moments were witty and full of emotion and that’s what won me over.
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy!
Both characters have some unlikable traits however I found myself emphasising with the pair. I was able to relate to Siobhan as a school teacher and many of the conversations she had with colleagues made me chuckle, oh and the late evenings making resources pissing off the care takers. Lily’s story however made me feel sad and at times quite awkward, especially as her obsession with Siobhan grew - who she believed lived a more exciting life. However, the depiction of grief throughout the book was very touching and I was desperate for her to come out of the other side. The moments where Lily sat rewatching the Wimbledon match on YouTube, to relive her past memories, broke me.
There is something about reading the mundanity of everyday life that I enjoy and Dickey did a wonderful job of portraying this and how we all experience similar thoughts and feelings regardless of our circumstances.
All being said, I did find the ending a little disjointed and despite Lily learning a lesson not to take people and things at face value, I didn’t see where the story line was going when she was breaking into her apartment.
Overall, it was a great exploration of character as there wasn’t much in terms of plot. But I loved the writing style and how their pasts were explored, especially Lily’s through mundane memories and conversations with her mum. These moments were witty and full of emotion and that’s what won me over.
Thank you to the publisher for my gifted copy!
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