Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon is an beautifully written account of a widower, David, trying desperately to continue living after the unexpected death of his wife, Mary Rose, in a plane crash. The narrative is wonderfully intricate, with each section slowly revealing more information about Mary Rose and the life they had together. One of the very best things about this book was the fact that David recognised that their seemingly rosy marriage had not always been easy for his endlessly optimistic wife. The parts about infertility and family were particularly well done, as David comes to terms with the fact that he did not always listen to or respect his wife the way he should have. They felt like a very realistic couple and I felt very invested in their story.

I wanted to give this book 5 stars, however there were two things which stopped me from doing so. Firstly, the Catalan politics were extremely confusing to me as a reader. It seems unlikely that an Irish anti-Brexit journalist would also be anti-Catalan independence... that felt really out of the left field and David's microaggressions towards those in favour of Catalan independence were extremely strange. Considering he only goes there two weeks a year, is it really his place to comment on the politics of the people who actually live there? Confusing.

The second thing, which may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, is that the writer decided that in order to make David as repugnant as possible (compared to the angelic Mary Rose), he should hold fatphobic views. His constant criticism of (particularly female) bodies really took me out of the book. The following quote almost made me stop reading:

"I dislike fat people and have, on occasion, to refuse to hire a fat tradesman. When a fat person starts using the equipment next to me in the gym, I have been known to move..."

There are so many ways in this day and age to make a character dislikeable, so I found this a particularly disappointing choice. This kind of fatphobia is insidious and just unnecessary! This is the sort of thing that could turn a lot of younger people away from a novel like this, and it really stood out as being incongruous to the careful writing of the rest of the story. I would be reluctant to recommend this book due to this, which is greatly disappointing to me, as I loved the rest of it so much.

This beautiful book is a thoughtful and moving account of a marriage, of loss and of learning to rebuild after life as you know it is shattered. David is bereft when his wife, Mary Rose, is killed, and is plunged into mourning, going over the details of their lives together. He dwells on things he wished he had done differently and ways in which he failed to make her as happy as she might have been. He begins to understand his own flaws and to regret his selfishness. But when he revisits the little village they discovered on honeymoon and returned to every year, David finds that life is not over for him yet, and that fate can surprise you when you least expect it. This was such a convincing and poignant read, the characters and settings brilliantly drawn. It deals effectively with the overwhelming pain of grief but also offers hope and solace, and it brims with compassion, tolerance and even humour. I enjoyed it enormously.

I felt like I knew the characters like old friends. It's a rich novel full of everyday observations and insights. It bears a re-read already.

I found the story really detailed and intricate - the main characters felt quite real (the friends less so) but I just couldn't engage, there was no warmth. I think if there has been a little more 'back story' from the start I might have been drawn in, but I spent the first few chapters wondering what was going on, and the planes flying through the sky foxed me as there had been no 'why' beforehand.
I can appreciate the skill and the writing but the story just wasnt for me.

David’s wife, Mary Rose, has died suddenly and left him alone in their middle aged life. Surrounded by well meaning friends who take him on inappropriately located holidays, and keep him grounded in his grief, he just wants to go back to Aiguaclara. They holidayed there every year for twenty years, and he feels closer to Mary Rose there than in Ireland. 

I really enjoyed this - the writing is understated but well controlled and joyful, even. David is a man who spent a lot of time following his dreams and believing Mary Rose to be following hers. Her death, so unexpected, makes him examine their life and his actions in a way which I can believe we all do when faced with such a change in our lives.

The narrative is not a big drama, or crime novel or mystery to solve - it’s David’s internal narrative as he goes about his daily business and adjusts to life without Mary Rose. I did have trouble with her name - I’m not sure it’s supposed to sound like the prawn cocktail sauce/ship or like two names said together? Definitely minor but somehow, I wanted to make sure I got her name right. Her absence is a character in itself - a selfless nurse with a big heart and plenty of love to give, it’s clear from the writing that she completed David in a way he’d never understood until her death. 

I also thought David’s internal monologue was really authentic - I actually forgot that the book was written by a woman momentarily, and was surprised when I checked and it’s Kathleen MacMahon. I know that sounds like I’m damning with faint praise, but David’s character was so clear I thought he could only have been written by a man.

I’d recommend this not for summer holidays, actually, but this time of year - cosy nights in by the fire as you dream of sunshine and sangria. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Books for the ARC, as always.

I revelled in ‘Nothing But Blue Sky’ by Kathleen MacMahon. What a lovely book! Despite the premise of a widower returning to a familiar holiday haunt the novel was full of joy as he reminisces about his life with his wife. There is a little twist at the end which endeared me even more to the story.

This book takes a wander through the mind of David, who has been widowed unexpectedly and who has a lot of time on his hands to go over their married life and his earlier life and reframe his experiences in light of where he finds himself in her absence.

I found David very self-indulgent and a difficult character to like as he rambled though the book obsessed with his own existence. Some of the other characters such as Claire and Deborah added light to his character, but in the end were very externally drawn. The concluding chapters I felt gave David too easy a solution for his grief.

When I was reading the book it's a tough story to read and well-told, but I didn't really connect with it in any meaningful way. This would be a good holiday read and is not too challenging, the prose is good but ultimately I felt unsatisfied by where this book was going and where it tried to take the reader.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read it in advance.

An exceptional, beautiful book. In the wake of his wife’s death, David returns to Aiguaclara where they went on holiday every year. Without her, he revisits his cold, loveless childhood and makes connections with some new people in his life. Beautifully written - I can’t wait for it to be published so I can recommend it to everybody!

This book focuses on David’s grief after his wife of twenty years dies tragically. While spending time in their favourite Spanish holiday location, he analyses their life together and while Mary Rose appears to be the perfect wife, he finds himself wanting. David looks at his childhood and how he feels it shaped the man he became, as well as comparing this to Mary Rose’s loving family home. David and Mary never had children and after reflecting on their marriage, David realised how he lacked a real understanding of Mary Rose’s journey through childlessness. Towards the end of the book, David is thrown a second chance at happiness and also finds a realisation that there are different types of grief and different ways of dealing with it.
This is a well written, gently novel with subtle humour. I also suspect it’s the type that stays with you long after the final page has been read.

Marriage, death, grief and bereavement is what this book is all about, it is raw in places. A good book. Thank you to both NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review

"I was neither dead nor alive but doomed to wander a desolate space between the two. There was me, and separated from me by a thick pane of glass was the world, where all kinds of things happened that I could see and hear but not feel."

David has been widowed. His wife of 20 years, Mary Rose, has died tragically, and he has returned to their favourite destination, Aiguaclara, to attempt to make sense of the world in which he has been unexpectedly abandoned, "I can find nothing in her past- not a single thing- that could in anyway have prepared me for what the future had in store for her."

The novel is David's first person account of their relationship in which he dissects, with clinical detail, his feelings of inadequacy in the face of Mary Rose's positivity, adoration and certainty about the future they would share- a future that involved children, though sadly, this vision does not come to pass, "She was so certain of the future and what it would hold for us. I had only a vague anxiety that I did not share her certainties. The only thing I was ever certain about was Mary Rose."

Macmahon writes with some beautiful descriptive detail- the kind that causes one to view the world a little differently afterwards. Amongst her observations are that of a dress "so luxuriously thin that it billowed behind her like smoke from a cigarette as she glided towards the edge of the terrace"; "stone steps that cupped in the middle from centuries of footfall" and also "the sense that we were forming our own rings on a tree trunk."
However, the use of first person failed to draw me to the main character and though I sympathised with his devastation and bewilderment, I did not find myself emotionally invested in his angst. At times, the minute details of their courtship and marriage felt arduous in their rose-tinged reflection and the narration lacked the balance of frustration experienced within a long-term companionship. Consequently, the reader does not get a rounded grasp of Mary Rose but instead a litany of regrets and longings that become monotonous.

My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for sharing an advanced copy of the book with me in return for my honest opinion.

I started reading this and couldn't quite get into it at first. I found David, the narrator, rather difficult to like at first, but then, at one point I suddenly 'got' him and it unlocked the book for me. David and Mary Rose have been married for twenty years when suddenly, she dies. David thought they had the perfect marriage, but in his grief for her he has to re-assess everything he thought he was sure of. David no longer has Mary Rose to navigate life for him or to shield him from himself. This is an intense study of grief and how it strips away the layers of the people left behind. It's beautifully written and I found myself absolutely fascinated by a man I was initially repelled by, which is so damn clever. I didn't want it to end.

Kathleen writes beautifully and inhabits each character. The secondary characters are given as much care as the main, which lends the book realism

I really found this book quite depressing. Its well written and hangs together but it wasn't for me. Struggled to finish it. However some of the themes were very personal to me and I imagine for otehr readers this might prove more entertaining and thought provoking.

Nothing But Blue Sky by Kathleen MacMahon is a novel about marriage, bereavement, what it means not to have children.