“Lovers’ Hollow” is the debut
novel of Orna Ross. It’s the story of Jo Devereux, a 38 year-old-woman who
works in San Francisco as a sex columnist. It’s with very mixed emotions that
she returns to Wexford, Ireland, for her mother’s funeral. Jo hasn’t seen her
mother for years, and for very good reason. Even so, she finds herself agreeing
to carry out her mother’s dying wish: that she write a family history, even
though it was family pride that lost Jo the one real love of her life: Rory.
Matters are complicated further by Jo’s pregnancy. It’s a long hot summer as Jo
excavates the past. She unearths dangerous family secrets from the past,
including her family’s involvement in the Irish Civil War, a murder that has
haunted 3 generations, and stories regarding her grandmother, Peg. Jo also
finds out more about herself and Rory, who is still around. But does Jo have to
redeem the past to secure her own future? This novel was originally entitled
“Going Under”. To find out more about the author, you must visit our Orna Ross page.
Authortrek reader Tracy
Culleton (http://tracyculleton.com/)
writes: “I've just finished Lover's Hollow (all 667 pages of it!) and I have to
say I think it's one of the best novels I have read in a long, long time. It is
based around three times: The early 1920's during Ireland's civil war, the
'present' day in 1995 as told by the protagonist Jo, and a middle period
detailing Jo's childhood - telling her story until it caught up with 1995.
Normally I don't really like books which flip time zones
like this, but Orna Ross does this so skillfully that it worked really well,
and I didnt' mind at all. She cleverly had me so interested in Jo's story, and
in the story of the people in the 1920's. And the people in the 1920's were
Jo's grandparents/aunts etc, so the events of 1920 had a direct impact on Jo's
modern-day life.
I could only admire the extremely skilfull (I have to keep
using that word) way the author gradually fed us the information ... just
enough to keep us interested without overwhelming us, adding up to our
understanding of the whole complicated story. As a writer I could appreciate
the skill to introduce the information at just the right time and in the right
way.
I also thought that Orna Ross's writing was only superb. It
was lyrical, poetic almost. To keep to such a standard of writing for such a
long work is a true triumph.
The scope of the work was very brave - an examination of the
events of the Civil War. I didn't realise until Orna has one of the characters
say how much our history glosses over those events, but it's true. I have heard
all about both my grandmothers' role in the Rising (small, but proudly held),
but nothing about what they did in the Civil War, or even which viewpoint they
held. It's like a scar in our quite recent history, and Orna has bravely
pointed to it.
The book also asks questions about women's role in the world
- both in 1920 and now, and raises interestting - if not very comfortable - issues
around those.
I think this book deserves to be a classic such as Gone With
The Wind. It's as broad in its scope as that. I didn't find a sour note in it,
and again, to write such a long book without anything jarring - it's a true
achievement.
You might guess that I like it and I'm unreservedly
recommending it.”
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