Sue's Reviews > The Coast Road

Alan Murrin’s The Coast Road, set in the small coastal town of Ardglas, Ireland in 1994, is the story of some families of that town, especially several women who are at important points in their lives. Ireland is also at an inflection point. There are rumors that a referendum on divorce might be considered in the near future though no one is seriously discussing it in public. The Church and men continue to have the upper hand.

The women we meet, chief among them Izzy, Colette and Dolores, are all married, in various states of unhappiness, with husbands who control their lives and happiness in different ways. The men, James, Shaun and Donal, are quite different from each other but they each assume what the role of men and women, husbands and wives is and should/must be. As the novel plays out, we follow both the expected and unexpected consequences as women talk and listen and judge and teach each other. There are some lovely contemplative moments but also some horribly sad ones.

This is a society where wives have few if any options: very often no money except from their husbands, no home except their husbands home and no legal way to leave their marriage. If they should leave, they have also are likely to lose their children. The Coast Road provides a portrait of several women trying to deal with less than happy marriages in those Irish times. A worthwhile read.

Thanks to Harper Via and NetGalley for an eARC of this book. This review is my own.