Schwestern

by Eugene McCabe

Set in the late 40s, early 50s, this tells the story of two sisters, both traumatised by the untimely death of their mother. The elder, Patricia, is also scarred by the realities of other childhood experiences and a humiliating marriage. The younger, Carmel, maintains an almost sexual love for Christ, and commits herself to an enclosed order. Carmel's abrupt disillusionment and departure from the convent throws the sisters together again. Tension mounts between Patricia's defensive cynicism and Carmel's equally unattractive humourless Puritanism. Filled with unflinching honesty in its exploration of the different types of love, this latest story from Eugene McCabe is both disturbing and heartwarmingly funny.

Genres: Irish Literature

144 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

About the author

Eugene McCabe was an Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, and tv screenwriter.

Reviews

[Pádraig Mac Oscair · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Broken Harp, Tomás Mac Siomóin argues that Ireland has been colonised three times - the initial English conquest and subjugation of the island over several hundred years, the Catholic Church's domination of morality and public life in much of the public through the ongoing control of many educational and healthcare institutions and finally the contemporary Anglo-American culture colonisation through the impact of the mass media and consumerism. This book captures the window in the late 1960s to early 1970s where the hypocrises and repressions of the Catholic Church, particularly in relation to sexuality, were being recognised and pushed back against for the first time by contrasting the fortunes of a seperated single mother and her sister, who leaves a convent. Interestingly, McCabe makes no secret that for all his contempt for the Catholic Church, he sees that it hasn't been replaced by anything better.

[Ronan Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Characters here are gorgeously rendered, fully-realised women with rich internal lives and a dynamic that drives the drama forward. McCabe scopes out the space between us: how do people so close yet so different find a way to navigate each other? Bracing writing.

[Valerie Campbell Ackroyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second McCabe book--the first was the Death of Nightingales. McCabe is a great storyteller and I felt like I was sitting beside him in a quiet pub as he told a story about a woman he knew called Carmel and her life. Carmel is a quiet woman, devoted to God while her sister Tricia is a hell raiser. Carmel becomes a nun for a time and then leaves the order, although her leaving is abrupt and not fully explained. And, after that, she lives in with Tricia and her little girl and tries to find herself.
The story continues on in the same wandering but attention-holding way. I liked Carmel so much I wanted to find out what would happen to her. Being rather short, a novella, the ending comes quite suddenly and inexplicably. I wish McCabe had written one further chapter because I don't know where Carmel and Tricia would go on in their relationship and I want to know.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully told story about life, sisters, and religion