‘You do not say anything but want to get up and run out of the house. The sitting room is the same as it was twenty years ago, you sit in the same armchair, your mother sits in the same place, the windows look out on the same houses, yet everything is different, and it makes you feel nauseous.’
– The Language of Remembering
[ About The Language of Remembering ]
Returning from Brazil with his wife and daughter, Oisín is looking to rebuild a life in Ireland and reconnect with his mother, Brigid, who has early onset Alzheimer’s. As her condition deteriorates, she starts to speak Irish, the language of her youth, and reflects on her childhood dreams and aspirations.
Mother and son embark on a journey of personal discovery and as past traumas are exposed, they begin to understand what has shaped them and who they really are.
[ My Review ]
The Language of Remembering by Patrick Holloway published in February 2025 with Epoque Press and is described as a novel that ‘asks how we connect to the people we love and how we move on from the past to find meaning in the present’. I was delighted to attend the launch of The Language of Remembering at Waterstones in Cork where I did pick up a copy of the book but, for numerous life-reasons, I only recently had the opportunity to finally read this very affecting debut.
Patrick Holloway lived and worked in Brazil for many years before coming back to Ireland with his young family a few years ago. Since his return he has openly spoken about his struggle to settle back into the rhythm of life here. Patrick moved home during the Pandemic and it was a culture shock for all. With a lingering sense of what he left behind and of the person he once was, he started to write, to try to make sense of these feelings he was experiencing.
In The Language of Remembering Oisín returns from Brazil with his wife and daughter to start the next chapter of their lives. Brigid, Oisín’s mother, has early onset Alzheimer’s and is starting to lose more and more of her memories as time slips by. Oisín’s father passed away many years previously, so the relationship between mother and son has always been close. Seeing her like this now is challenging for Oisín and he is beginning to question his decision to return to Cork.
As the reality of the daily grind hits home, Oisín is soon struck with his naivety when making the decision to come back to Cork. Living in rented accommodation, scraping together enough money to just exist, he starts to doubt his own self worth and his sense of being. Seeing Brigid slip away from him is tough. She persists in speaking to him in Irish and as Oisín does not have the same command of his native tongue, he finds it more and more difficult to understand her.
With chapters entitled Now and Then, we are given insights into Brigid’s early years and the personal struggles she faced growing up in a very upright Catholic society. Interweaving the different periods of time, a gorgeous story unravels, one of rediscovery, connection and memory. There is a raw quality to Patrick Holloway’s writing, depicting a vulnerability, almost like we are seeing his true self. This tale is fictional but I have no doubt that there are many factual elements filtered through the pages. Many readers will resonate, in particular, with the storyline about ageing, and the difficulties that presents, when we see a decline in our once vibrant parents. It’s a shocking reality and for those with dementia, it’s even more upsetting for all involved. The scenes with Oisín and Brigid are truly heart-breaking as he tries to find moments of lucidity, something to anchor him to her, something to remind him of the person she once was.
The Language of Remembering has been described by Elaine Feeney as ‘a beautiful meditation on family, love and the fragility of remembering’ with many more writers adding their praise for Patrick Holloway’s stunning prose. The characters feel real. The storyline feels real. The place is real. All this authenticity combines into a novel that has connected with so many.
Dignified, emotive and insightful, The Language of Remembering is a refined and polished debut, one I readily recommend to all.
[ Bio ]
Patrick Holloway is an Irish writer of fiction and poetry and is an editor of the literary journal, The Four Faced Liar. He completed his Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Glasgow, before moving to Porto Alegre, Brazil, where he completed his PhD in Creative Writing.
He is the winner of the Bath Short Story Award, The Molly Keane Creative Writing Prize, The Flash 500 Prize, the Allingham Fiction contest and he was the recipient of the Paul McVeigh Residency in 2023. His work appears in The Stinging Fly, The London Magazine, Poetry Ireland, The Moth, Southword, The Ilanot Review, Carve, The Irish Times and The Irish Independent.
The Language of Remembering, is Patrick’s debut novel.
