[ About If These Walls Could Talk ]
SUSPENSE LIES IN THE SHADOWS OF RURAL IRELAND…
Hazel McDermott is on the phone with her husband Darragh when she hears the screech of tyres. The jeep he was driving is soon found, overturned in a field off the motorway, but Darragh has vanished.
As the days pass and the Gardaí investigate, Hazel’s carefully built life starts to crumble. She soon discovers that her charismatic property developer husband has been keeping secrets – personal and financial – that could put her family’s safety and future at risk. But where is he? Is something sinister afoot, after he got into bed with the wrong people? And what is the connection to an abandoned mental asylum in a small town in County Galway? The answer, when she eventually gets it, will shock Hazel beyond belief.
[ My Review ]
If These Walls Could Talk by Michelle McDonagh published June 18th with Hachette Ireland and is described as ‘taut, unsettling, rich with suspense, a gripping West of Ireland thriller about deception, obsession and the haunting truths we hide – even from those closest to us.’
Launched in Waterstone’s Cork June 23rd, it was an absolute pleasure to listen to Michelle chat to writer Kate Durrant about the inspiration behind her latest novel. It’s always such a delightful way to spend a few hours and the turnout on a particularly warm evening was a credit to Michelle. She may be Galway born but Cork has embraced her as one of its own.
in Waterstones Cork
If These Walls Could Talk sees Michelle McDonagh return to the town of Glenbeg, the fictional setting for her fabulous debut novel There’s Something I Have to Tell You. Loosely based on Ballinasloe, Glenbeg is the location of St. Brendan’s asylum, a building that was inspired by St. Brigid’s, the now abandoned and renowned psychiatric facility in this Galway town.
Hazel McNamara is a GP in a thriving practice but her days are very busy. With three sons at varying stages of education and an elderly father requiring assistance, Hazel is very much a member of the sandwich generation. Her husband Darragh is a property developer with a base in Dublin from where he commutes back to Galway on a weekly basis. Darragh has struggled financially in the past but, in recent times, he climbed back on top giving the family a state-of-the-art home on the west coast, convincing Hazel that all is well. He lives a flashy lifestyle, quite the opposite of what Hazel desires but she loves Darragh, even with all his faults. They have three wonderful boys and a good lifestyle – or so Hazel believes.
On a call to Darragh one wet and wild night, he tells her he is unexpectedly travelling to Dublin that night but not to worry. The next thing Hazel hears is Darragh, with panic in his voice, and a loud screech of tyres. The call is cut and Hazel is left hanging. Shocked and frightened, she rings the emergency services but she can offer no specific location for Darragh, only that he is somewhere between Athlone and Dublin. The next few hours are shattering for Hazel and the family but suddenly a glimmer of hope transpires when Darragh’s Porsche is discovered. But there is no trace of Darragh….
Hazel tries to be strong but she can’t help her imagination from spiralling as the horror of what happened sinks in. What if Darragh is bleeding out in some abandoned old shed? What if the emergency services are too late? She tries to calm her boys but she has her own work issues to deal with so is struggling to remain composed. As multiple threads begin to unravel, Hazel feels herself unravelling also. To stay strong requires too much. As the police start to uncover some further information, Hazel’s mood swings between pain, anger and shock. Where is Darragh and what has he been up to? A web of intrigue and lies unfolds as Hazel has to accept a new reality but will Darragh be part of that new reality?
If These Walls Could Talk is a twisty tale but it is also a snapshot of society in Ireland, both past and present, as Michelle incorporates many real-life news events into the novel. If you are an Irish reader you will be familiar with some of the cases, places and the people that are referred to. Michelle has also spoken openly about the initial inspiration for this novel which was a similar motor accident involving her husband, but he didn’t disappear!
With a varied cast of characters, criss-crossing different strands, If These Walls Could Talk captures the parochial nature of small-town Ireland where multi-generational trauma still lingers and a claustrophobic atmosphere prevails. Michelle McDonagh is known as The Queen of Rural Noir, turning ordinary people from the west of Ireland into rather nefarious characters, and she does it with style. As crime-fiction writer Catherine Kirwan says, it is ‘a gripping read that will have McDonagh’s many fans turning the pages late into the night’. I think we really need to see Glenbeg on our TV screens, like Glenroe but with a darker twist (IYKYK).
[Thank you to Hachette Ireland for a copy of If These Walls Could Talk in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Michelle McDonagh is an Irish journalist with over twenty-five years’ experience, including twelve years as a staff reporter at the Connacht Tribune.
She now works freelance, writing features and health pieces for numerous Irish papers, including The Irish Times. She is married with three children and lives in Cork.
She is the author of three novels: There’s Something I Have to Tell You, Somebody Knows and Some of This is True.
