Three Little Truths

August 31, 2020
Irish writer Shortall (Grace After Henry) explores the fine line between friendship and enmity in this thoroughly enjoyable novel, centered on a group of women neighbors. Self-possessed and elegant Martha Rigby has recently moved to tony Pine Road in Dublin after a traumatic robbery at her previous home, during which she and her daughters, Sinéad and Orla, were tied up. Though Martha’s daughters have taken to their new school, St. Ornatín’s, “with such ease it almost seemed pointed,” Martha struggles socially until she gets involved in the intricate web of neighborhood politics: a single mom, Robin, is back at her parents’ after having left her criminal boyfriend; Edie, a young “receptionist-slash-supervisor” will stop at nothing to get pregnant; and the daggers are out for Trish, the principal of St. Ornatín’s, and the insufferable Bernie, the chair of the school’s Parents’ Association. When a list of girls’ names is discovered in the boys’ bathroom at school, and Sinéad, whose name appears on it, calls it a “rape list,” tensions flare; meanwhile, Martha is unexpectedly confronted by someone from her past. Secrets and subplots abound, and they all converge at a local street party. While a reliance on coincidence can stretch the plot’s believability, Shortall strikes the perfect balance between acerbic and compassionate. Readers will soak up this smart, entertaining plunge into a community’s dysfunctional culture.