First Thoughts: An impressive book by Allie Murray

BOUNTIFUL, the début novel of Allie Murray, a native of County Waterford, now living in Rathcormac, elects to shine a light on the many deceits, conspiracies and undercurrents that tend to shape life in any number of Irish villages, says Billy O’Callaghan.

Padbury is a fictional place that will be recognisable by its nature to anyone who has spent a significant stretch of time in a closeknit community setting, a place where every action, no matter how covert, is seen by someone, where the background noise is always gossip, where feuds tend to fester across generations and where surfaces present only a small part of the true picture.

Bountiful