Blue Mercy
A Heartbreaking, Page-Turning Irish Family Drama

If I hadn't known that Orna Ross also writes poetry, I'd have guessed it from the lyrical flow and language of this compelling contemporary novel. Breathtakingly powerful phrases pepper the pages, little puffs of magic whose brilliance takes you by surprise. The novel's ambitious structure hops smoot......more

This book was very hard to put down. The relationship between mothers and daughters is complex, conflicted, and paradoxical to some degree or other no matter who those mothers and daughters are. In this book, it becomes intensified due to the nature of other relationships existing at the same time.......more

I was tempted to give this four stars because I know that readers can be suspicious of five. But, really, this may be the best book I read this year—it’s certainly up there with MaddAddam and Stone Mattress, both by Margaret Atwood, and I gave the full five stars to each of those. What makes my enjo......more

Pick a colour (my favourite is blue). Pick a fabric (okay, silk). Sprinkle it with your favourite fragrance (mine is Light Blue by D&G, no kidding!) Draw the material to you, inhale, clutch it to your face and neck. How does it make you feel? Good, isn't it? That's how I felt while reading Blue Merc......more

This was definitely an intelligent book and I enjoyed some of it. However, the main characters (Mercy Mulcahy, her daughter Star and lover Zach) are a little too over the top. The relationship between mother and daughter is intense, fretful and downright tedious. Their inability to communicate just......more