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A brilliantly warm and witty portrait of our pandemic lives, told in ten heartrending short stories, from the Booker Prize–winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Love and marriage. Children and family. Death and grief. Life touches everyone the same. But living under lockdown, it changes us alone.
In these ten beautifully moving short stories written mostly over the last year, Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle paints a collective portrait of our strange times. A man abroad wanders the stag-and-hen-strewn streets of Newcastle, as news of the virus at home asks him to question his next move. An exhausted nurse struggles to let go, having lost a much-loved patient in isolation. A middle-aged son, barred from his mother’s funeral, wakes to an oncoming hangover of regret.
Told with Doyle’s signature warmth, wit, and extraordinary eye for the richness that underpins the quiet of our lives, Life Without Children cuts to the heart of how we are all navigating loss, loneliness, and the shifting of history underneath our feet.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
February 22, 2022 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593552988
- File size: 140691 KB
- Duration: 04:53:06
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Roddy Doyle's latest collection of short stories, read in his distinctive Irish brogue, shines a light on the impact of living in the midst of a worldwide pandemic these last two years. As he navigates these 10 short stories, his delivery remains steady and strong while balancing pathos and humor. The stories are all the more powerful as he fills the role of the narrator throughout. While he doesn't give the characters unique voices, his consistent, balanced delivery shines a light on our common humanity. The characters are obviously Irish, yet the challenges, regrets, and actions they recount are recognizable by all. Relationships are strained and healed as the stories celebrate life and resiliency. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine -
June 1, 2022
Booker finalizt Doyle (The Van) applies his wit and compassion to the challenges of COVID. Each story is a first-person account of the pandemic's surreal presence in Ireland. "The Curfew" features a man as he recalls his father demanding, "Where are my pills?" while his mother frantically searches and worries that he'll die if they aren't quickly found. The music-rich "Worms" introduces Joe and Thelma, who rediscover each other as they share their earworms during lockdown. The title story is a weak addition, but the contrast between England's and Ireland's pandemic restrictions is intriguing. The final story, "The Five Lamps," is heartbreaking as a father searches deserted Dublin for his drug-addicted son. VERDICT Doyle splendidly narrates his own words using his harsh, raspy voice to good effect, and a gentler tone when required; his female voices are believable. Doyle's unique style demonstrates that suffering is a commonality, not something to be endured in silence.--Susan G. Baird
Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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December 13, 2021
Doyle’s accomplished collection (after the novel Love) probes the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on a series of marriages. A mug angrily thrown at a wall during an argument in “Box Sets” turns out to be the last straw for a recently laid-off husband and his disillusioned wife. The mug doesn’t shatter, rather it prophetically breaks in half “along an old crack.” The title story features a father of four who is on a work trip in England, where he toys with the temptation to abandon his family back in Dublin. In “The Curfew,” regional lockdown guidelines induce sadness, panic, and hopelessness, all of which are compounded for a man after he receives a dire coronary diagnosis. “Nurse” features a healthcare worker reflecting on the inner turmoil induced by her daily reality, while in contrast, a man mourns the loss of his own routine in “Masks.” It is only during Doyle’s final few stories that his characters begin to find compassion and hope. A master of dialogue—whether strained, deceptive, or free-flowing—Doyle has a keen eye for the interconnectedness and the criticality of communication, which makes these stories shimmer. Doyle’s raw portrayal of living and loving under lockdown has a deep resonance.
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