My favourite book of last year!! I don’t think I have the words to sum up how much I loved this book, but it sums up Northern Ireland and all its issues perfectly.
The historical aspects of the book were spot on, and the relationship between the two main characters was fantastic, but also an excellent metaphor for the country itself.
I read this not long after the anniversary of the peace agreement so perhaps this book hit home more because of that. Nevertheless, nothing can take away from the fantastic writing of Louise Kennedy. A book that will stay with me for a long time.

This is a fantastic book. There is a build up of tension throughout the book and you are waiting for something bad to happen.
It was unsettling at times. It is written so well for a debut

Absolutely incredible book I was totally emerged in the history the lives and the personalities that were written about and created in such an incredible way.
Thankyou

Gripping and disturbing. It pulls you right into the horrors of the troubles and tensions of life in Northern Ireland. It is terrifying how normal, everyday people can get mixed up in bad business they would never imagine they could get involved with. Its sad that the affects of the troubles still linger and impact the lives of everyone in Northern Ireland and this book tells a story about that very well

I absolutely loved this novel. Set in Belfast during 1975 the story centres around Cushla, a young Catholic woman who embarks on an affair with the older, married, Protestant Michael, a barrister. I can't believe it was a debut novel. Louise Kennedy is a master storyteller, and I can't wait to see what she does next. Brilliant.

Rounding up to three stars


This is the book that everyone seems to love but me.
So I'm guessing it's me, I'm the problem.
I couldn't connect with any of the characters.
I didnt care about an extra marital affair.
I wish I'd loved it like everyone else did.

Trespasses gave me the strongest sense of living through the Troubles in Northern Ireland of any novel I have ever read - the conflicts, contradictions, danger and banality as the presence of soldiers on the streets became the norm. The love affair at the centre encapsulates many of the complexities of loyalty, class, religious affiliation and politics while remaining real and deeply human. I am recommending it to everyone I know.

Cushla, a primary school teacher by day and helping out in her family pub in the evenings, lives in a small town close to Belfast. Weighed down, living at home with her alcoholic mother, things improve when she starts a relationship with a barrister, one of the customers from the bar.
But this is 1975 in Northern Ireland and there are complications in addition to the obvious religion and age gap ones.
I think Trespasses is the best book I have read in a long time.
Many reviewers declare their assessment of it as outsiders. Mine is not. Trespasses propelled me right back to teenage years there at that time, and I can testify to the authenticity of Louise Kennedy’s edgy narrative and be appreciative her absolute empathy with it. The ripples in this pond as Cushla casually gets more deeply involved, turn rapidly into a tidal wave in this darkly specific environment. Following her heart in helping her needy pupil Davy and his family becomes so complicated she might as well be less cautious in her romantic liaison. What is there to lose, except maybe everything.
Cushla is a strong character, open and genuine and curious. The atmosphere is dark and stressful, and the affair is tender and unselfconsciously physical. Trespasses is powerful and memorable work, overflowing with the inevitability of sorrow and deservedly on the shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.

I was quite excited about Trespasses, because I'd heard great things about the writing and I was intrigued by the 1970s Northern Ireland setting. The writing was very polished and I think the book was technically quite good, but I am not a fan of 'young woman older man' relationships in books, and I found myself really really wishing for more interiority. My fave thing about reading is delving deep into a character's thoughts and feelings, and Trespasses felt quite lacking in this. I didn't really connect to the characters or the story, so I can't say that this was a book I particularly enjoyed.

This debut novel from Louise Kennedy is simply stunning.

Set in 1975, during ‘the troubles’ in Northern Ireland, it tells the story of Cushla Lavery, a Catholic teacher living in a garrison town outside Belfast who also helps out in her family owned pub.

When Cushla meets Michael Agnew, an older, Protestant, married man there is an instant attraction between them and the ensuing affair and its repercussions lie at the heart of the narrative.

There are multiple themes in this outstanding novel: sectarian violence and bigotry, alcohol dependency, children at risk, love in its many forms, all acutely observed and written with authenticity and compassion. There is also humour and kindness.

The characters are written with such realism and complete conviction, there is nothing out of place or to question.

The rising sense of tension as the novel progresses took this reader right back to those dark days, which I personally experienced.
I thought both the beginning and end of this book were perfect. It brought me to tears and I can’t remember being so profoundly moved by a book in a long, long time.
Highly recommended.
I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. (I have since bought a hardback, signed by the author)

Set in Northern Ireland during ‘The Troubles’, in the mid 1970’s, Trespasses began with what seemed like a chance encounter, when a known barrister, Michael Agnew, a married man of the opposite faith, a Protestant, known to provide legal defence to IRA members; a man who had known Cushla’s father, sat at the bar, while she was serving, engaging her in stilted conversation.

There are various types that frequent the pub, that one ought to be wary of, an aura of menace seems never far away. This man Michael asks her questions, coming across initially, to this reader, as a suspicious character. Yet, there is a chemistry between the two.

Cushla, 26 years old, is a teacher of primary school aged children and helps her brother in the family owned bar some evenings due to the deterioration of their mother into alcoholism. Much of her spare time is spent caring for her mother, trying to prevent something more than drunkenness from occurring.

Absent Father, Alcoholic Mother, A Rescuer Desires Love

We know the father has passed on, though we know little of the relationship dynamic he brought to the family, except that he was regarded as having married beneath him. He was a Lavery, a prominent family name. His wife, Cushla’s mother Gina, was always seen as ‘less then’, something Cushla has inherited, grown up with and allowed to define her, without a full appreciation of.

She has a soft spot for one of her pupils, Davy McGeown, she knows his mother is struggling with three small children, a wayward 18 year old son and a troubled husband. Her attempt to cut them some slack, to try and get the school to provide Davy school lunches brings the family unwanted attention. Moved by their need, her instinct is to get involved and help.

Friends and Lovers

Her colleague Gerry invites her out. He seems to be her one true friend, the only person she can rely on. But it is towards the older, in almost every way unavailable, Michael, she yearns.

The novel traces the early days of their doomed affair, displaying all the classic signs of being something to the side of one’s life, except that for her, she desires more. Though he takes her to his Irish conversation social gathering, the way his friends act is less than welcoming. Much of their connection, irrespective of their age and religious differences is frowned upon everywhere, it seems impossible and she wonders if she is just one in a line of other women.

News, Bad News, Terror and Scares

Each chapter begins with a radio news announcement, a politically motivated violent event, a death, a bombing, a recounting of damage, injuries, blame.

Every school day too begins with recounting the news, the children have no chance of not knowing the charged political climate around them, often their school events are interrupted by random police checks, a bomb-scare.

Those Trespasses

There are lines that should not be crossed, there are consequences unseen, random events that require little imagination to see how they might unfold. There are ordinary, dsyfunctional trysts and risky choices of career, that occur in all cultures and societies, but in some the punishment for what another might consider to be a transgression are more severe than others.

The lack of love in Cushla’s life might be what leads her to cross these lines, to defy convention without being the rebellious type. We don’t know much about Michael or why he made the decisions he did; he set out to protect some, which could disturb others, and his choices would make the women in his life suffer.

A Collision Course

Ultimately the connections Cushla has made will collide and demonstrate how easy it can be for one of those radio announcements to no longer be a mere repetition of the way life is, in a country where sectarian violence is normalised.

It is a sad depiction of life and an interesting novel to discuss, as it reinforces the necessity for so many to choose to leave, when their options and opportunities close on them.

I enjoyed how this all came together in the latter part of the novel, when it suddenly picks up pace, energy and suspense; I found the initial two thirds less engaging and too many pages given to the affair that could have more usefully been given to greater character development, that might have evoked greater empathy for some of the characters and the situation.

The depiction of the tense atmosphere and some of the revealing anecdotes that demonstrate the prejudices and slights people have against one another were incredibly well done and somewhat eye-opening, the result of a continued separation of people and a belief in their own self-made differences.

It left me with quite a few questions; however it was a thought provoking read, about an unsettling place and time, that remains something of an enigma to the outside world.

I read this during March 2023 for #ReadingIrelandMonth23

A definite contender for my book of 2022. I loved Louise's writing style and her ability to put into words the horrors of The Troubles in such a beautifully told, emotional story.

I loved the style of this. About a woman finding love during The Troubles and all having to find her way through all the trials of ‘mixed’ relationships and the descrimination and judgement that comes with it. A forbidden love (for a number of reasons) that she can’t express to others.
Great debut.

I have been looking for a book with the Troubles at the centre of the story. Not so that I can relate to it. The troubles didn't affect me, I'm not Irish but I have wanted to learn more since reading the Kevin and Sadie books as a teenager. I've read a few but none have been as impactful as Trespasses by Louise Kennedy.

The story of Cushla Lavery and her conflicted feelings about her heritage versus her heart is a powerful read. For me, what makes it so compelling is the ordinariness of shocking events. The violence is presented as commonplace. That’s not to say that the characters in the story weren't sympathetic or angered but just that they were almost used to it. Desensitised.

Trespasses is compelling and Cushla Lavery is a character I won't forget for a very long time.

Trespasses by Louise Kennedy is available now.

For more information regarding Louise Kennedy (@KennedyLouLou) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Bloomsbury Books (@Bloomsbury Books) please visit www.bloomsbury.com.

I read Kennedy's short story collection The End of the World is a Cul de Sac last year, and loved it. I was really impressed with her ability to capture the setting of Ireland, particularly during The Troubles, and her focus on women in difficult situations. So I was so excited to read this, her debut novel.

Set in Northern Ireland in the mid-70's, this story focuses on Cushla. She is in her twenties, and working as a teacher in a Catholic primary school whilst dealing with an alcoholic mother grieving after the death of her father, and helping her brother run the family pub which is frequented by Protestants and British soldiers. One of her pupils, Davie, comes to her attention as he is bullied and ostracised by pupils and teachers alike, as he is the product of a mixed marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant. She becomes entangled both in the difficulties of Davie's family, and with an older man who frequents the family pub. Michael is older, Protestant and a prominent barrister known for objecting to the justice system which is prejudice against Catholics. In a peak time of The Troubles, Cushla finds herself in a precarious position as a Catholic in a mainly Protestant area, putting her head above the parapet for a family looked down on by both sides of the sectarian divide, and having an affair with a married man much older than herself who is on the opposite side of that divide from her.

This book is not an easy read. The Troubles were a horrific time for Ireland, and this is made more harrowing by the inclusion of the children sharing the daily news of attacks, murders and disappearances at the head of each chapter. I felt a really strong sense of the persistent smog of fear that must have hung over people at that time, and that is amplified by the situations that Cushla finds herself in.

As a rule, I try to avoid stories of affairs told from the perspective of one of the culprits. They cut too close to home. But I think it is testament to Kennedy's writing that she made me sympathetic toward Cushla. For the most part, at least. The power dynamic and the things going on in Cushla's life make it more understandable that she finds herself in the position she does, and so whilst her choices often made me angry I could see why she thought they were justified or (more often) felt she had to make them.

Having read and really loved Anna Burns's Milkman very recently, it was hard not to make comparisons. Whilst this book has a much more easy to follow narrative, there are definite similarities. Both authors really build the atmosphere of the time whilst having protagonists who are completely themselves despite what is going on politically around them. But the books and stories are very different, and so stand on their own strengths. I was really impressed by this book, Kennedy is definitely going on my list of authors I will automatically read anything she publishes.

Trespass is my favourite book this year. It tells the story of Cushla and her troubles in Northern Ireland. Louise Kennedy has created a whole host of characters that you learn to love for all of their faults. It is set in Northern Ireland and the descriptive language transports you right to the middle of Belfast and into the trauma that unfolds. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.

In a town on the outskirts of Belfast in the 70's, Catholic school teacher Cushla becomes involved in an affair with Michael an older, married, Protestant man who works as a barrister. Their affair is conducted amidst the backdrop of ever present sectarian violence and there's a constant sense of foreboding and threat throughout the novel. Having recently read, and loved, Louise Kennedy's short story collection, I was keen to read this and it did not disappoint. Kennedy is a phenomenal writer and this is a beautiful, heartbreaking and nuanced novel that will stay with me for a long time. I'm not sure I've read anything else that so accurately captures the impact of living through the Troubles. Highly recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy.

CW: Violence, injury detail, hate crime, alcoholism, sexual harassment, grief

Pulls you in from the first page. . Set in Northern Ireland in the troubles Cushla, a teacher, has a foot in both camps. You’re swept along with her life, a brilliant tale of love ,alcoholism, sectarianism, and loyalties. I was completely invested in her relationships with Michael.and Davy
A book that will stay with you long after you’ve finished it

Louise Kennedy is such a great voice! I had sampled her short stories, and thought they were amazing. Trespasses feels different, quite a a traditional story written in a solid, assured style, with e keen eye to details and great world building. A Romeo and Juliet type of plot set in Northern Ireland, it still feels timely.

I loved this book.

Funny, clever and really intriguing, I was thinking about it long after I finished reading.