Kennedy writes about socially divided sectarian Northern Ireland with acute precision, painful accuracy and tremendous compassion, detailing her characters’ various searches for levity and ‘normality’, despite a relentless ever-present multitude of subtle and overt cruelties of daily life during that time. With each chapter skilfully well-written, the entire book is easy to read in stages, if that suits the reader. The story is bookended by short pieces depicting a chance encounter in 2015 between two of the characters. The book is presented in thirty chapters divided into five sections. In her acknowledgements at the back of the book, she is candid: ‘This is a work of fiction that is based on true events sometimes the way the events occur (and the events themselves) are from my imagination.’ In Trespasses, Louise Kennedy writes with aching eloquence about everyday human stories lived within extraordinarily inhumane times. Having enjoyed her story collection so much, I had high expectations.

The fact that I am not at all familiar with these places and areas did nothing to detract from my reading pleasure. Trespasses is her second book, a novel set during The Troubles in the 1970s, in and around Belfast where Louise grew up. Through her sharp gritty prescient writing, I recognised specific places and settings in those stories. Louise Kennedy is the author of the highly-acclaimed The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, a collection of stories set, for the most part, in the Northwest of Ireland. National Emerging Writer Programme Overview.

Louise kennedy tresspasses