McCoubrey. Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.McCoubrey

McCoubrey is a poignant novel that charts the experiences of a young boy growing up in the fictional Irish town of Portstown circa 1971. It vividly portrays the boredom and small-town mentality that the protagonist (McCoubrey) is forced to confront, as he approaches his teenage years in a menacing environment that signals the onset of the Irish "troubles". Normal childhood adventures intersperse with the developing political atmosphere, as the boy McCoubrey embarks on a summer of self-awareness that will influence him forever. One day he is depicted eating broken biscuits contentedly on a weekend jaunt into the town centre. Fast forward and he's part of a community that's under attack in their own street. School pranks where the pupils compete to see who can urinate the highest, contrast with life's injustices whereby social status determines the size of one's school dinner.

The author has created a very plausible character, popular with his school mates, yet aloof and a deep thinker. McCoubrey is intelligent and discerning for his age, and isn't enamoured by what he encounters in his daily existence. It's unlikely that he'll spend the rest of his days in Portstown! The novel contains many snippets of original humour that lighten the broody flavour of this book. At times "McCoubrey" captures a similar atmosphere to that conveyed in both Catcher in the Rye and Angela's Ashes respectively. This gritty and engaging debut novel is well worth a read.