Bog Child by Siobhan Dowd

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Finding a mummified body of a child is not the best way to start your day! Eighteen year old Fergus McCann finds the remains of a small girl while poaching turf with his uncle in 1980s Ireland. Thus begins a seamlessly interwoven novel of multiple story lines. Fergus is confronted with several life altering situations - discovering more about the little girl, his developing relationship with Cora, being blackmailed into running packages for the IRA, the trauma of having his older brother, a political prisoner, on hunger strike. There is never a slow moment in the book, the pace is fast. The characters are believable with catchy, involved dialogue.
The novel explores the vagaries of growing up, coupled with the political tension in Ireland during the '80s. Fergus has to grapple with becoming an adult as well as battling family, religious, and national problems. A beautiful book.

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