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Title: Brilliant
Review: I'd seen the movies made from Doyle's earlier books (The Commitments, The Snapper, The Van), but hadn't read any until this. Despite the somewhat depressing tale it's great writing. The book is the recounting by a 39-year old Irish woman of her family and social life growing up, interspersed with her life now, a year after the death of her abusive husband. Told first-person, as if she is sitting at a kitchen table with the reader, the stories of her life are engrossing and entertaining. Although the actual battering doesn't come until the last third of the book, it lurks in the background of everything leading up to it. And when it does come, it dominates and is terrible in its harshness. It's a pretty impressive story, especially coming from the pen of a man.
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