On a rainy afternoon on Killiney Hill a young man walking, without his overcoat, happens upon a woman gazing out over Dublin bay, standing perilously close to the edge. From their testy encounter develops a remarkable friendship which will enable each to face afresh their very different, damaged pasts, and to look, however tentatively, towards the future.
Jennifer Johnston’s book The Gingerbread Woman is easily one of the best books I have read this year. I enjoyed every word of it. Johnston, although said to be one of the finest Irish writers, wasn’t known to me before I read about her on Danielle‘s and Kim’s blog. I believe they both mentioned other novels. I felt like starting with this one as I liked the description on the cover.
35 year-old Clara recovers from an operation and a broken heart while Laurence tries to come to terms with his grief. He has recently lost his wife and his little daughter. Clara and Laurence meet on a walk and later bump into each other again in a pub. Clara notices how lonely and sad Laurence is and asks him to stay at her house instead of the hotel. The dog Pansy is especially grateful as she had to sleep in the car. The story of these two wounded people is told in alternating points of view. Clara, who works for newspapers and teaches Irish literature at small universities, tries to write a novel. During the course of the book she writes parts of the novel that reveal her tragic love story. Laurence reveals his story in telling it to the people in the novel and in flashbacks. Clara’s mother and her doctor are interesting characters as well. The relationships she has with both of them, as with everybody actually, are far from the ordinary. She is quite an original character and I was surprised that her tragic love story was so banal. The reader guesses what is wrong with her lover right away but clever and hardheaded Clara is tragically clueless. (Hard to imagine but I have seen this sort of story happen many times – as said, it is quite banal – and, believe me, no amount of good advice did beware the women from a painful disappointment).
Clara is very weak and ill, post-operative as she says. We wonder all through the book what health problem she had, even more so when the doctor mentions that the operation is linked to a sexual encounter. Big question mark on my side.
What is really special about this book is the feeling of immediacy. Clara is a character who doesn’t spare anyone. She always seems to say the truth. The conversations with her are deep and meaningful. If people were really talking like this, if they were this real, how wonderful this would be.
Johnston is known for tackling Irish issues. This book is no exception. I found it interesting to read an inside point of view. We all have our opinions of Ireland, the IRA, the North and the South but probably we all know shit. We don’t know how deep the rift is between the two parts of this divided country.
Jennifer Johnston is truly an outstanding writer and I will certainly read many more of her books. I already have How Many Miles to Babylon, Two Moons and Fool’s Sanctuary on my TBR pile.
Jennifer Johnston has written some 15 novels. Which ones did you read or are you planning to read?
Beauty is a Sleeping Cat 
Hi caroline
I was looking for your blog about spirituality after you left a comment on my advent post yesterday(2nd). Then I noticed you said it was a german blog so sadly not for me as I cannot speak or read german. I wanted to say thank you for your kind comment too. And come for a look around here. I like the look of this book The Gingerbread Woman and what you write about how the character speaks. I will add this to my list to read.
Hi Jan, thanks for passing. Yes, it’s in German, I realized that it might be a bit futile to mention it after I had already posted the comment. I might start to translate some of the book reviews and post them here. Or start to post in English on the German blog. The Gingerbread woman is a wonderful book. I hope you will like it.
I really liked her novel Truth or Fiction, but I Loved How Many Miles to Babylon, which I read recently but haven’t gotten around to writing about yet. It’s not a happy story, but it’s very well done, and she really does get to the heart of the matter in her work. I have The Gingerbread Woman–I bought it ages ago without really realizing who the author is–just liked the story description, but I will have to get to it soon. I’ve accumulated several other of her books. I also have The Illusionist, Shadows on Our Skin and Fool’s Sanctuary to read as well.
I am looking forward to reading How Many Miles to Babylon. I got quite a collection of books set during WWI.
I do as well–I am fascinated by that period, though I should really read more history/nonfiction about the war as well!
I got quite a few history books as well. Unfortunately I often lose patience when they are too detailed. I wanted to read Robert Graves Memoir. The movie Regeneration based on Pat Barker’s books is quite good too. I should post on My Boy Jack, have you heard of it?
I’d love to read this one…in fact i want to read at least 1 book by any Irish writer, I believe you know why I want to read it 😉
Hmm, let me think… 🙂 I like Irish writers. They don’t disappoint often.
Apart from her, who else do you recommend?
William Trevor, Edna O’Brien and John McGahern (and of course James Joyce) are some of the most famous ones. Very classic. I will read House of Spelndid isolation by Edna O’Brien soon. It is about an elderly woman who is held captive by a fighter of the IRA. I like Brian Moore as well but he is very oldfashioned.
Benjamin Black, the pen name of John Banville, writes thrillers (the Silver Swan). I am planning on reading him soon.
Then there is Roddy Doyle and Joseph o’Connor, they are the “pop-writers”, they write about youth culture etc. Doyle’s The Commitments is so funny. It’s abound a band and has been made into a movie. There are many more…
Some are bestselling authors like Maeve Binchy (what people call comfort reads) and Marian Keyes (chick lit). I laughed quite a bit with Marian Keyes.
Thank you 🙂 I’ll mark them down and try reading them if I come across those books
This sounds wonderful, Caroline. I really like the way you highlight writers from other parts of the world. I just wish I had time to read more.
Thanks, I appreciate your comment a lot. And, yes, I do wish I had more time to read as well. Ther is so much to discover. Johnston is a fantastic author, well worth discovering.