Interesting

My rating:  3 out of 5

Christy is part of an extended Irish Travellers family.  He longs to go to school, and to find out more about the mother he never met.

Set around 1959 Christy is 12 years old and loves the outdoor world.  He enjoys the travelling from town to town, loves his grandfather, and  has lots of fun with his cousin.  His excitement at being accepted into a school is tempered by the way many of the non-travelling community treat him and his family.

Unexpectedly Christy received a clue about his mother, and he sets out to solve the mystery of who she was and why his father will never talk about her.

An interesting glimpse into the lives of Irish Travellers at that time, and what it is like to be a young boy who is an outsider to most people he meets. 

3*s for this enjoyable book, with a massive twist.  I found it difficult to have much sympathy with Christy, apart from during a few specific events, and there is not as much depth about the lives of the Irish Travellers as I would have liked.  I read this having loved American Dirt, and this (previously written) novel was always going to have trouble matching American Dirt. 

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