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Trespasses

A Novel

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Trespasses

By: Louise Kennedy
Narrated by: Brid Brennan
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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

“Brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking.”—J.Courtney Sullivan, New York Times Book Review

“TRESPASSES vaults Kennedy into the ranks of such contemporary masters as McCann, Claire Keegan, Colin Barrett, and fellow Sligo resident, Kevin Barry.”—Oprah Daily

Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a shattering novel about a young woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion.

Amid daily reports of violence, Cushla lives a quiet life with her mother in a small town near Belfast, teaching at a parochial school and moonlighting at her family’s pub. There she meets Michael Agnew, a Protestant barrister who’s made a name for himself defending IRA members. Against her better judgment, Cushla lets herself get drawn in by him and his sophisticated world, and an affair ignites. Then the father of a student is savagely beaten, setting in motion a chain reaction that will threaten everything, and everyone, Cushla most wants to protect.

©2022 Louise Kennedy (P)2022 Penguin Audio Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction World Literature Heartfelt Tearjerking Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

“Brilliant, beautiful, heartbreaking. . . A rising sense of tension throughout comes to a shocking head. I am not a crier, but by the final pages of Trespasses, I was in tears. It’s a testament to Kennedy’s talents that we come to love and care so much about her characters. And that reading about a long and difficult period from the recent past feels not like history, but like a warning.”—J.Courtney Sullivan, New York Times Book Review

“Brilliantly depicted. . . . Kennedy has written a captivating first novel which manages to be beautiful and devastating in equal measure.”—The Washington Post

“Absorbing. . . . vivid, skillful. . . . wise far beyond its first book status, Trespasses vaults Kennedy into the ranks of such contemporary masters as McCann, Claire Keegan, . . . [and] Kevin Barry.”—Oprah Daily
Moving Love Story • Compelling Character Portrayals • Vivid Historical Setting • Poignant Emotional Depth
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Beautifully written and heartbreaking. Narrator was incredible - I couldn’t stop listening! The accents were amazing and the characters far too real.

Brilliant historical fiction

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This was mind-numbingly boring until the last few chapters. I kept going because it wasn't that long, but even so I had to skip ahead a few chapters. I got the book because I had heard it reviewed on NPR,but was very disappointed. I kept thinking "when the hell is something going to happen?

Boring!!!

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This book is a great follow up read/listen to Bono’s Surrender. And it’s a timely reminder to readers of the agony and pain of Northern Ireland in the recent time of the Troubles. The author weaves her story with just the right lessons about how conflict is influenced by culture. The narrator is superb and adds much to the story with her beautiful accent.

Love this contemporary Historic Novel

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Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses is a masterfully written novel, but experiencing it in the Audible version brings an added depth that made it even more immersive. The narrator’s Irish accent perfectly suits the story, making the setting and characters feel all the more vivid and authentic. Her delivery is both lyrical and raw, capturing the novel’s tenderness and tension in equal measure.

Kennedy’s writing is exquisite—her pacing deliberate yet compelling, her characters heartbreakingly real. The emotional weight of the story is profound, balancing love and loss, hope and despair, in a way that lingers long after listening. The narration made every moment feel immediate, drawing me into the world so completely that I felt like I was living alongside the characters.

A truly mesmerizing listen—enchanting, believable, and deeply moving. Highly recommend!

A Hauntingly Beautiful Performance

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It’s the best book I have read in a long time. Slow, deliberate, and well-crafted. Showed the intricacies and complications of relationships set against the backdrop of the Troubles of Northern Ireland. I felt it gave a glimpse into life at that time and place. A raw and realistic portrait of the human condition.

Loved it!

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I enjoyed every minute of this book. Beautifully written. Excellently narrated. I recommend this book to everyone. Absolutely worthwhile

Wonderful!

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I so looked forward to reading this book — I love stories set in Ireland and am greatly interested in the Troubles, but I thought it was just ok. Set in Northern Ireland in the 70s during the Troubles, tells the story of a Catholic schoolteacher who takes up with an older, married, Protestant barrister, and how their worlds collide. There wasn’t a lot of momentum in the story, and I never felt the chemistry between the couple. The last 25% of the book picked up considerably, but not enough to make the first 3/4 worth it.

Didn’t Draw Me In

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Character development was impeccable. Beautiful storyline about love and its complexities during the troubles in the north of Ireland.

Absolutely beautiful book

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NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN’S PRIZE FOR FICTION
Thank you, GR friends Peter and Linda, for encouraging me to get Louise Kennedy’s “Trespasses”. I remain in amazement at how Kennedy blended newsreels along with her moving story about a young catholic schoolteacher during the time of the Troubles in Ireland, 1975. Kennedy showed how people existed, attempting to live “normal” lives when bombs routinely dishevel daily lives.

Cushla is a young teacher at a Catholic school. Her family owns a bar that her brother manages after her father’s tragic death. Her mother has fallen to the drink. Cushla helps at the bar in addition to caring for her dipsomaniac mother. Cushla has taken a particular caring attitude towards a young boy in her charge, Davy, who is a playground target. Adding to Davy’s problems is that he lives amongst Protestants. His father was badly injured, rendering him unable to work. His mother does her best, but she could use help.

At the start of the story, Cushla is working at the bar when she notices a man, Michael Agnew. She ascertains that he’s a Protestant (Cushla is Catholic) and he’s married. He’s a barrister who is known to defend wrongfully accused Catholic men. He persuades her to help a group of his friends to learn how to speak Irish. From here, a romance is formed.

Kennedy perfectly captures how a young woman could be attracted to a man twice her age. Cushla is the protagonist who takes the reader through her daily emotional journey. From the moment she awakes, she sees violence and fear. Yet she’s a schoolteacher who is surrounded by youthful innocence, and Kennedy cleverly peppers the story with their much-needed exuberance and simplicity. She returns home to deal with her increasingly drunken mother. School has its own hazards with pedophile, predatory and mercenary priests. You know the type, the ones who encourage “private catechism”. The Father Slattery in this story is the doppelganger to my hometown priest, Father Fox!

I listened to the audio, brilliantly narrated by Brid Brennan. Her voice brought life to the characters. If I had it to do over, I would have accompanied the audio with reading. Kennedy’s prose is such that I wanted to see it so I could get the full affect. I did rewind many times. After I completed the audio, I automatically went to the beginning, to listen again to the story. The ending will elicit a tear.

Loved it

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I loved it. The simple, matter of fact story about life and love in a not so distant Era. Touching on history in Ireland I should be more aware of but am not. I know people said it was hard to get into but I liked it right away and found the narrator's voice and cadence soothing and wished the story was longer. But then again no. it's only a book and they all can't be super happy endings, right? I think I would enjoy reading it myself as well, not just in Audible. G9 ahead try the sample, you might be hooked too.

Simple and moving

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