Ah, just when I thought we could be friends :P I love Claire Keegan as a writer. Definitely enjoyed this one. It's, as the kids might say, a vibe. I read a lot of Irish books and painting the atmosphere (without really getting to any particular point) seems to be very in. Now, personally, I enjoy that, but it's definitely very subjective and up to interpretation.
why?
I don't honestly know. Personally, I interpret it as a bit of a closeted fantasy. Obviously, I'm not Irish, but I expect there must be a lot of unease and collective guilt about the Magdalene Laundries, especially in towns such as the one in the story, run effectively by the Church. It's the secret fantasy all of us have that someone (ideally, us) would do the right thing, speak out, stand up to the oppressor. I think Bill is supposed to be fictitious in a way. In his own mind. Though I'm probably overthinking it.
I just think that its a bit shit that we still have similar things going on today, but recontextualised into the corporate world.
Just because people get money for it, instead of being literal slaves, doesnt make it okay.
Not a lot of people are doing a lot of anything about that (eg: I wouldn't know where to start) because it would otherwise disrupt, disturb and serve to render their rather comfortable existence into an uncomfortable one.
The quiet part the book doesnt say out loud is that we all benefit from things like these.
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