Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan
Sometimes we do buy a book for its cover. Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan is a novel that attracted me by the cover photograph, a remote stone cottage with a view of the sea. The blurb on the back cover begins “In 1973, twenty-year-old Moll Gladney takes a morning bus from her rural home in Ireland and disappears.” More than enough to draw my attention.
From the first words you know that Donal Ryan is a lovely writer – the story almost doesn’t matter. But it does. And it is wonderful
We read of the sadness of Moll’s parents during the time that their daughter is gone - and their joy at her return. They are all such kind people. Moll’s parents are somewhat shocked by their daughter’s choice of husband – but he is a lovely man and becomes a son to them. Their child is also accepted and loved by this Irish family. 1973 may have been a “modern” time in England and elsewhere but the 1970s in rural Ireland were much like the 1950s in rural Canada.
This is a difficult book to review as I found so much pleasure in discovering the story as I read each page, along with the language and the places it takes us to. All of it pitch perfect.
The Gladney family is deeply religious and Catholic Ireland is at the centre of their lives. Moll’s mother, especially, prays for the welfare of those she loves. Moll had left it all behind when she left home and refuses to accompany her parents to Mass on her return. Moll’s husband, Alexander, was not raised in the Catholic Church, but he and his parents believe in one God. They are just fine with the marriage of their son, and his acceptance of the religion of his wife’s family. These families all know the bible well and believe in the scriptures.
This is also rural Ireland in the days of tenant farmers, including the Gladney’s. They have lived in a home provided by the landowners, the Jackman’s, for generations. The relationship between the families is sometimes a concern – especially for the Gladney women who have few rights and are reliant on a system of inheritance from father to son.
Strange Flowers is a novel about family, acceptance, and change. There are troubled times, and troubled people, but, more than anything, there is love.