Three brothers are at the funeral. One lies in the coffin.
Will, Brian and Luke grow up competing for their mother’s unequal love. As men, the competition continues – for status, money, fame, women …
They each betray each other, over and over, until one of them is dead.
But which brother killed him?
In a lot of ways Liz Nugent’s Our Little Cruelties is an epic family drama, jumping around in time and character, each new little gem of a chapter adding to the reader’s experience of this trio of brothers. As ever with her characters none of them are flawless, all of them are divisive and she plays on your emotions pitch perfectly throughout.
As well as that the mystery element- just which one of them is in that coffin and how did his journey take him there – is intuitively embedded within the narrative, every reader will hope that it’s not this brother but that one, yet whatever the outcome may be, you just know it’s going to hurt. This is twice in a row now that this author has utterly traumatised me with an ending I simply can’t let go of – for me that’s the sign of a true genius with words, there is a power here that has a mesmerising affect on you as you read.
I won’t give anything away, Our Little Cruelties is a novel you feel rather than read, live rather than observe and just solidifies my opinion that this kind of thing is the type of quality we should all hope for when we pick up a book. Watch out writers everywhere- Liz Nugent is coming for you all.
I am already highly anticipating what might come next – But for now Our Little Cruelties comes highly recommended from me.
You can purchase Our Little Cruelties (Penguin Ireland) Here.
Happy Reading!
