Capossela's debut novel captured my attention immediately with her tense and magnetic writing about the secrets that family keeps from one another and how trauma can take generations to heal. I didn't know much about the details of the Troubles in Northern Ireland before reading this book and the point of view from which this history is told was an eye-opening one. I appreciated the author's ability to weave historical events in with her characters stories that felt well researched and evocative at the same time. One of the many themes explored in this dual timeline novel is mothers and daughters. I could relate with both in this story, as a mother who understands the need to shield her child from sometimes awful truths. I equally rooted for the character of Bernie, a teenager growing up in an equally divisive time who may have more in common with her mother than either could ever know.
Fantastic read!

Trouble the Living is a poignant book set in dual timelines, in the late 1990s in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, and nearly 20 years later, in California. It’s a story of mothers and daughters, of inherited trauma, and the violence of silence. It’s full of simmering tension as you slowly start to uncover just what happened in those months preceding the Good Friday Agreement and recognise their impact on the present.

The story itself is, as you might expect, rather slowburning, and it’s the writing that does the heavy lifting at first to get you hooked — and does it very well. From the very first page, you’re sucked into the lives of the protagonists. Their voices are so distinct and true to life that you almost feel as though you’re in the room with them. It’s the perfect character-driven story. Not only is it the protagonists who feel so real, but the background cast do equally.

If character-driven, slowburning fiction is your thing, Trouble the Living is a book you won’t want to miss out on. Even if it’s not, I’d urge you to give this one a try because you will not regret it!

A fascinating story about mothers and daughters set during the Troubles in Ireland and later in Southern California. Brid, the main character, joins the IRA during her teenage years, partially due her mother's feeling about Northern Ireland and her own rebellious feelings. As a consequence of one of the actions of the IRA, tragedy hits her family and she flees to the United States. Years later, she has a daughter of her own whom she has overprotected since her birth. Mother and daughter will learn secrets about each other when both return to Ireland for a family funeral. A well written novel, particularly if you want to learn more about the Troubles of Northern Ireland. I will strongly recommend this book.

This book had me hooked in the best way. It is such a beautiful and devastating story set across Northern Ireland during the troubles in the late 90s and California in 2016. A story of family, mothers & daughters, trauma, violence, choice, religion and enduring love. One of the best books I've read this year and I can't wait to tell people to buy it!

oh, gosh, i loved this book so much. i am literally writing a thesis on the female gaze & the northern irish troubles at the moment, and this is just a stellar addition to the literature on the matter. mcdonnell’s style is impeccable, as is her reflection on violence, motherhood, nation, and displacement; i even found myself tearing up a little a couple of times. plus the entire storyline kept me hooked the whole time! this is truly one of the best books that i have read as of lately — i cannot wait for it to come out!

Brilliant and devastating, Trouble the Living is the most beautiful novel I have yet to read in 2023; perhaps longer than that.

A gorgeously rendered portrait of generational trauma, mothers and daughters, love, freedom, choice, pain, acceptance, religion, tragedy, and the things we cannot accept; the things we do to each other, the ones we love, and, perhaps most of all, ourselves. Trouble the Living is both timely and timeless; it is a tribute to bonds of blood, the ones that tie us together and the ones that snap, not only to our families, but to our homes and homeland.

The prose is poignant and riveting, but makes itself invisible as it transports readers through the experience of the novel; it is a narrative dream to be devoured, but makes one's stomach plummet in the details the ground it, to shock with its unflinching realities. It is not voyeuristic in its depiction of tragedy; it is visceral, but not exploitative. Every character is deeply flawed, but so too are they empathetic; they are human.

The alternating POVs are done expertly, leaving readers with enough unresolved intrigue to ensure each timeline is eagerly anticipated; when they catch up to each other, the pacing changes, but is propelled forward with the climax of the novel so as to not feel slowed and claustrophobic.

A remarkable and rich novel that I read in two sittings, Trouble the Living is a stunning work, and one that will linger with readers well after its conclusion.