Recommended by the Reviewers Club

As you Were, by Elaine Feeney

Cover of As you Were, by Elaine Feeney.

This was an unusual novel about a young women diagnosed with terminal cancer who has refused treatment (she doesn’t want to put her husband and sons through this) and is in hospital in Ireland. The story revolves around the disparate lives of the other people who she shares a ward with, in a run down and failing hospital.

Darkly humorous yet desperately tragic, this is a novel of our times with elaborate texting and emojis interspersed with descriptions of intimate histories of the past. Shame dominates these stories with the ever presence of the dominant Catholic Church in Ireland. Another novel of our times.

3.5/5 Stars