Donal McLaughlinCritiques

McLaughlin's autobiographical collection of short stories is full of Scottish dialect and slang that your Kindle's dictionary won't help with--but you can figure it out with a little effort. These stories are mostly driven by feelings, not by plot or action. Most of the stories place the reader in the midst of an Irish family as it deals with the Troubles in Northern Ireland before moving to Scotland. They range from the serious to the comic and take place over a range of years as we see the main character first as a child and in the end as a grown up. Given that I'm an agnostic (or maybe atheist) former Baptist, it is a mark of these stories' success that they succeeded in pulling me in emotionally. This thoughtful collection may appeal to you as well, and I will definitely read more of McLaughlin's work if I have the chance.½