Reviews for Aunt Belle's beach

The average rating for Aunt Belle's beach based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2008-09-15 00:00:00 Bryan Cowan Oh, Annie – Annie Dunne. How my heart went out to you as you told me your stories – past and present – and how the future held such strong fears for you. ”What is this growing old, when even the engine that holds our despair and hope in balance begins to fail us? .” Annie Dunne was left with a lump high on her spine after a childhood bout with polio. Her mother died young and her father did his best to look after his daughters. He was in charge of all the police forces in Dublin and they lived in Dublin Castle, along with other members of the police force. Annie Dunne took great pride in this, even though her father’s mental health failed after 40 years of promotions at his work. Annie’s sister Maud took ill and Annie went to help Maud’s husband Matt in raising their 3 sons and looking after their home. Two years after Maud died, Matt decided to re-marry and Annie was once more set adrift. She ended up living with her cousin Sara near the place where many of her relatives grew up, and when Matt’s young grandchildren came for a visit while their parents set up their new home in London, Annie was overjoyed. ”The wind goes on with its counting of the leaves in the sycamores, a hundred and one, a hundred and two.” The lifestyle on Sara’s tiny farm was one the city-bred youngsters adored, and Annie felt the same way. They had adventures – a runaway horse, a band of ruffians trying to break in one night, and then there was Billy. With his smooth talk and charm toward Sara, Annie felt her security was threatened yet again. ”Billy Kerr would harass the deer if there was any profit to himself in doing so, as he is a man without qualities. There is probably a Billy Kerr, or someone like him, in all human affairs. Otherwise all would be well, continually.” Despite her many flaws, Annie Dunne stole my heart and my empathy. Whether I agreed with her (most times) or not (sometimes), I couldn’t help but feel compassion for her in her struggles with herself – and a world that had moved on with her clinging to its shirt tails. With his poetic and lyrical style, Sebastian Barry’s story of Annie Dunne, narrated by herself, kept me mesmerized by her perspective of everything around her - and my emotions ran up and down the scales of a celestial keyboard. Sensitive and alive with beauty, fear, anxiety, and love – I would highly recommend this family saga to everyone who enjoys an in-depth character study that explores the heights and depths of a person living a simple life of great complexity. With thanks and appreciate to Jamie for lending me the use of a computer to write and upload my review. May my computer’s current shop visit be the last one for a very long time!

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-25 00:00:00 Jeremiah Johnson 2.5 Stars Sebastian Barry is my favourite Irish author and this is my seventh novel by him. Annie Dunne is his second novel and for me his weakest link in the chain of novels. The prose which he is renowned for is not present in this book nor is his characters well developed compared to books like The Secret Scripture or A Long Long Way and this is just one of those reads where little happens and the plot is wanting in many ways. The book is a short read at under 230 pages and is set in a small farmhouse in Co Wicklow in the late 1950s. Annie Dunne an unmarried woman in her sixties who lives with her similarly solitary cousin Sarah on the farm. In the summer of 1959, they are asked to care for their grand-niece and grand-nephew whose parents are going to England to seek work. I normally love books set in this time frame in Ireland but this one just didn't work for me as I didn't get a sense of time and place or the characters just seemed felt and the prose not up to Barry's standard. Perhaps he has me spoilt with all his other great novels. I still highly recommned A Long Long Way or The Secret Scripture The Temporary Gentleman or On Canaan's Side