The Wild laughter by Caoilinn Hughes - Book Reviews

Overall Book club rating - 3.33/5

Col's Book Rating 4/5

Eight years in the making, this brilliant, often depressing novel tells the tale of a dysfunctional farming family in County Roscommon, Ireland, who lose everything as a result of the savage 2008 economic downturn. The seemingly perennial sadness that cloaks rural Ireland is brilliantly captured; should the locals ever imagine their hardships are modern inventions, on their doorstep is the Famine Museum, serving as a solemn reminder that it was ever thus. It’s a strange land where the measure of a man is gauged by the regularity of his attendance at Mass and stonemasons offer a discount on the cost of a tombstone if they can carve their contact details on it. “The stonecutter’s phone number is writ larger than an Irishman’s lifespan.”

This is familiar territory to Caoilinn Hughes, one of five children; her own father began his working life as a farmer in Ireland and she grew up in an environment where downtrodden people frequently spoke of leaving to try their luck in America or England. In an interview with ‘Tin House’ in 2018 she says sibling relationships can be “stagnant, false, judgemental, traumatising, sickening and tortured” and we see this in abundance in the seething resentment the two sons Cormac and Hart have for each other.

Against this backdrop of desolation and hopelessness we see the lives of the flawed family members play out. From a young age Cormac’s sporting prowess allowed him time away from the drudgery of farm labour – a luxury never afforded to Hart. Cormac went away and got an education, qualifying as an engineer before going on to be a successful entrepreneur, whereas Hart’s development was put on constant hold while he remained and laboured, eating “muddy spuds and maggot cabbage pigswill.” Their parents make no secret of the fact that Cormac is their favourite. In turn, Hart makes it clear that he despises his mother and has no time for her, instead choosing to lavish his affection upon his father and tending to his every need.

The main thrust of the book concerns the patriarch, the larger-than-life but now cancer ridden character simply called ‘The Chief’. Anyone who has had to witness a loved one in terminal pain through this terrible disease will be familiar with the awful angst of wanting it to be over quickly so they would be rid of their pain, yet illogically not wanting death to come to them and this is realistically and impressively laid out by Hughes.

With ease and consummate skill Caoilinn Hughes pulls the reader into a terrible climax played out in court. Conspiracy, sacrifice and bitter betrayal form a grim conclusion amid unexpected twists and turns. 

This is a great read, albeit a sobering and joyless one. It makes me want to read Hughes’ debut novel ‘Orchid and the Wasp’ as soon as possible; that book also explored the Irish fallout from the economic crash of 2008.

Angie's Book Rating 1/5

I tried but couldn't get into it. Seemed all over the place