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An inbetweener - The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

So I’ve been thinking one book a month equals only 12 posts a year (well 13 if you count the Big Review of the Year) which is good but I want to give you lovely people more reasons to come and read the blog. So I’ve decided to post about the books I read in-between the books of the months. These ones are read by only me and as at the moment I am reading The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry this seems like a good enough place to start.

It was a random Christmas present a couple of years ago that I re-found when stocking my new book shelves (Handmade by hubby - thank you!)
I wasn’t expecting much, to be honest I don’t think I would have bought it for myself and I simply wanted to get rid of all the ‘old’ new books I had that I didn’t expect to be staying on my bookshelves – only the best get to stay!

I read it after Hemmingway and although I didn’t race through it reading something with normal size print was a delight. It was also beautifully written with quotes scattered left right and centre. “It is very difficult to be a hero without an audience, although, in a sense, we are each the hero of a peculiar, half-ruined film called our life.”

It does take a little bit of concentration. I have to confess I have a pile of books that I just want read and I seemed to have brought my skim reading that I adopted with Hemmingway to this book requiring me to re-read certain parts as unlike with Hemmingway stuff happens that you need to absorb rather than fast forward through.

I liked the unfolding of each character especially how Roseanne told one story about herself and the facts told another. I was at times unsure how Dr Grenes story was going to unfold (calls in the middle of the night that his dead wife answered?) but Barry pulled it back before he teetered into ghost story territory.

I hated father Gaunt and wanted him to gain his comeuppance. I won’t spoil it for you by saying whether he did or he didn’t.

Overall it was gentile, interesting and easy to read, such a refreshing change from Hemmingway that I give it a 6. It won’t be staying on my bookshelf but it gave me more than I thought it would. I believe there is a film in the works for this but that it may be on-hold. Let me know if you hear otherwise.

#inbetweeny #noshelfer

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