West of Ireland

by Cp Hoff

Overview

Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2020

For one family, it's always been a delicate balance between success and scandal. When a long-overdue obligation is called in ... scandal it is.

Mrs. O'Brien never imagined it would come to this. Sure, she promised one of her offspring to God as an innocent newlywed, but that was before all of her children died but one, the one she was sure she'd have loved best. So when her iron-fisted grumpy nun of a sister demands she make good on her vow, the put-upon woman is determined to thwart the Church's claim.

Mary-Kate O'Brien can't believe her ears. She may enjoy playing 20 Questions with the priest during confession, but becoming a nun doesn't promise nearly the same level of entertainment. So after discovering her dour, vindictive aunt is hell-bent on cloistering her, the clever girl sets in motion a mad scheme to escape her heavenly fate.

With her only remaining child withdrawing in anger and her husband offering little more than mindless drivel, Mrs. O'Brien struggles to undo the consequences of her words. And as Mary-Kate wrestles with betrayal, she has no idea whom to trust in her quest to remain free of obligation.

Can mother and daughter unite in time to slip past the long arm of Rome?

West of Ireland is the laugh-out-loud first novel in The Picaresque Narratives humor series. If you like outrageous comedy, witty banter, and zany characters, then you'll love C.P. Hoff's rib-tickling tale.

Buy West of Ireland for high-spirited fun today!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780981221502
Publisher:	Black Crow Books
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Series:	Picaresque Narratives , #1
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.78(d)

Editorial Reviews

"Hoff animates this tale of over-the-top family dysfunction with wit, considerable writing skills (at one point we read "There was enough blue in the sky to cut out a pair of pants"), and deadpan humor ("I'm not ignoring you," one character tells another, "I'm just pretending you're not here"). And the very human pathos of the novel is always present but never heavy-handed, with even the most outlandish characters written to a fine shade of believability.

An eccentric, ultimately moving novel of an expat Irish family in turmoil." -Kirkus Reviews (stared review)

From the Publisher

★ 2020-09-09
An Irish family in Canada faces a stark generational choice.

Hoff’s impressive fiction debut centers on the O’Brien family in New Brunswick, Canada. Mr. O’Brien is garrulous and tries to be optimistic, holding court at The Donnybrook, the local pub, every day, and Mrs. O’Brien is sharp and forceful, haunted by the fact that all of her many children but one died very early (“Three boys and five girls buried one after the other in the churchyard, none living long enough to open their eyes to see, or their mouths to cry”). Tended by servants, the couple lives in a fine house with their only daughter, Mary-Kate, a high-spirited, bookish young woman who’s continuously being proffered by her father to all the eligible or semi-eligible men in the town of Tnúth. Mary-Kate is the book’s most complex dramatic creation, and the subject of her matrimonial future is a contentious one. Years ago, Mrs. O’Brien made a rash promise to her sister-in-law, Sister Mary-Frances, pledging one of her children to religious orders, and Sister Mary-Frances is determined to collect (“The long line of O’Briens was coming to an end,” we’re told, “and she wanted to make sure it finished with some dignity”). Hoff adds to these charged premises a third storyline that’s customarily a staple of comedy rather than drama: Mrs. O’Brien’s quarrelsome mother (referred to by her son-in-law as “Our Lady of Blessed Misery” and called by her daughter simply “Herself”), having just recently buried her husband, has decided to come and live with the O’Briens. Hoff animates this tale of over-the-top family dysfunction with wit, considerable writing skills (at one point we read “There was enough blue in the sky to cut out a pair of pants”), and deadpan humor (“I’m not ignoring you,” one character tells another, “I’m just pretending you’re not here”). And the very human pathos of the novel is always present but never heavy-handed, with even the most outlandish characters written to a fine shade of believability.

An eccentric, ultimately moving novel of an expat Irish family in turmoil.

Kirkus Reviews