What do you think?
Rate this book
Our London Lives
1979. In the vast and often unforgiving city of London, two Irish outsiders seeking refuge find one another: Milly, a teenage runaway, and Pip, a young boxer full of anger and potential who is beginning to drink it all away.
Over the decades their lives follow different paths, interweaving from time to time, often in one another’s sight, always on one another’s mind, yet rarely together.
Forty years on, Milly is clinging onto the only home she’s ever really known while Pip, haunted by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, traipses the streets of London and wrestles with the life of the recovering alcoholic. And between them, perhaps uncrossable, lies the unspoken span of their lives.
Dark and brave, this epic novel offers a rich and moving portrait of an ever-changing city, and a profound inquiry into character, loneliness and the nature of love.
Over the decades their lives follow different paths, interweaving from time to time, often in one another’s sight, always on one another’s mind, yet rarely together.
Forty years on, Milly is clinging onto the only home she’s ever really known while Pip, haunted by T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land, traipses the streets of London and wrestles with the life of the recovering alcoholic. And between them, perhaps uncrossable, lies the unspoken span of their lives.
Dark and brave, this epic novel offers a rich and moving portrait of an ever-changing city, and a profound inquiry into character, loneliness and the nature of love.
512 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2024
153 people are currently reading
1,990 people want to read
About the author
Christine Dwyer Hickey
12Ìýbooks92ÌýfollowersChristine Dwyer Hickey is a novelist and short-story writer. Her novel Tatty was short-listed for Irish Book of the Year in 2005 and was also long-listed for The Orange Prize. Her novels, The Dancer, The Gambler and The Gatemaker were re-issued in 2006 as The Dublin Trilogy three novels which span the story of a Dublin family from 1913 to 1956.
Twice winner of the Listowel Writers Week short story competition, she was also a prize winner in the Observer/Penguin short-story competition. Her latest novel, Last Train from Liguria, is set in 1930’s Fascist Italy and Dublin in the 1990’s and will be published in June 2009.
Twice winner of the Listowel Writers Week short story competition, she was also a prize winner in the Observer/Penguin short-story competition. Her latest novel, Last Train from Liguria, is set in 1930’s Fascist Italy and Dublin in the 1990’s and will be published in June 2009.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
September 25, 2024
What a lovely,sad (sad?) book.
September 19, 2024
Oh my goodness what a book this one is going to take me a while to digest before I can write the review
This novel is the story of two people meeting in a London pub and what happens to them over the years
This is a very British book very well anchored in London. It’s nice to read about ordinary British people. As of the books I’ve read about London recently have focused on gang related violence this book looks at normal people and their struggles with life one young girl who travels from Ireland and knowingly pregnant and has to give up the baby the other when she meets him is a young man boxing. The book deals with the ordinary I’ve life poverty and alcoholism. Some of the subjects dealt with the novel are quite weighty but the author managers to treat them with subtlety and poise
The story is set over a number of decades and I particularly enjoyed the way that it showed how central London has changedover time
The author has a clear flowing writing style, the novel was a joy to read.
The author has great skill in the way that she describes personal characteristics and the way that her characters developed over time these are real people you really feel you understand them and the way that they behave
I very much enjoyed reading this book. It might not have been a book that I would pick up on a bookstore but I’m very glad I found it on NetGalley UK.
I read an early copy on NetGalley UK in return for a review the kids published on the 5th of September 2024 by Atlantic books
This will appear on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, NetGalley UK and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
This novel is the story of two people meeting in a London pub and what happens to them over the years
This is a very British book very well anchored in London. It’s nice to read about ordinary British people. As of the books I’ve read about London recently have focused on gang related violence this book looks at normal people and their struggles with life one young girl who travels from Ireland and knowingly pregnant and has to give up the baby the other when she meets him is a young man boxing. The book deals with the ordinary I’ve life poverty and alcoholism. Some of the subjects dealt with the novel are quite weighty but the author managers to treat them with subtlety and poise
The story is set over a number of decades and I particularly enjoyed the way that it showed how central London has changedover time
The author has a clear flowing writing style, the novel was a joy to read.
The author has great skill in the way that she describes personal characteristics and the way that her characters developed over time these are real people you really feel you understand them and the way that they behave
I very much enjoyed reading this book. It might not have been a book that I would pick up on a bookstore but I’m very glad I found it on NetGalley UK.
I read an early copy on NetGalley UK in return for a review the kids published on the 5th of September 2024 by Atlantic books
This will appear on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, NetGalley UK and my book blog bionicsarahsbooks.wordpress.com. After publication it will also appear on Amazon UK.
December 16, 2024
This had all the makings of a great book, but it never came together for me as I had hoped. It felt more like a marathon Eastenders session set over forty years than an epic London love story. I still found myself teary at the ending, but it was a struggle to get there and a relief to finish this 500 page saga.
The book open in 1979. Milly has just arrived in London from Ireland at the tender age of 18, secretly pregnant and desperate for work. She finds a job at a bar run by Mrs Oak, your archetypal London pub landlady who helps her out in her hour of need. There she meets Pip, a brooding Irish boxer with a penchant for the drink. Over the course of their London lives, they come together and part again, two misfits trying to find their place in an unforgiving city.
It would be wrong to characterise this as a love story - at its heart it's a character study, and a study of a city that is a constant throughout two lives in flux. The passion between Milly and Pip never really ignited for me, and I wanted more of their childhood stories to fully appreciate how they got to where they are. There was a lot of unnecessary detail of pubs, flats, houses and squats, that just got boring after while.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this. The writing is very good, but it's a rather flat, depressing story that I wouldn't pick up again. While there is a redemption of sorts for the characters, it ends on a rather dour note which had me muttering under my breath! 3/5 stars
Many thanks to Gill Hess Ltd and Atlantic Books for the early copy. Our London Lives was published in September. Honest review, as always.
The book open in 1979. Milly has just arrived in London from Ireland at the tender age of 18, secretly pregnant and desperate for work. She finds a job at a bar run by Mrs Oak, your archetypal London pub landlady who helps her out in her hour of need. There she meets Pip, a brooding Irish boxer with a penchant for the drink. Over the course of their London lives, they come together and part again, two misfits trying to find their place in an unforgiving city.
It would be wrong to characterise this as a love story - at its heart it's a character study, and a study of a city that is a constant throughout two lives in flux. The passion between Milly and Pip never really ignited for me, and I wanted more of their childhood stories to fully appreciate how they got to where they are. There was a lot of unnecessary detail of pubs, flats, houses and squats, that just got boring after while.
I can't wholeheartedly recommend this. The writing is very good, but it's a rather flat, depressing story that I wouldn't pick up again. While there is a redemption of sorts for the characters, it ends on a rather dour note which had me muttering under my breath! 3/5 stars
Many thanks to Gill Hess Ltd and Atlantic Books for the early copy. Our London Lives was published in September. Honest review, as always.
November 14, 2024
A romance that's mainly miserable. Two Irish people in London. I liked it more than I thought I would. The real litmus test would be to see if my more sensible sisters would enjoy this book. I'm glad I read it and normal service of nonsense thrillers and horror will now resume.
June 26, 2024
Our London lives
What a beautiful character driven novel, spanning four decades in the lives of two Irish immigrants, Milly and Pip. They are clearly fragile, vulnerable and slightly broken young people, whom we as readers come to care for from the opening pages .This is a book very much about deep love in its many forms, but please do not expect it to fit comfortably in the romance genre. This is a book about real life, all its warts and all - and there are some tough themes - alcoholism, adoption, child loss, sexual abuse, loneliness, alongside examining London pub life, sense of community and complex familial relationships, which are just some of the elements encompassed in this book.
London stands tall throughout, with its changing faces told with great authenticity, evoking both the eras and landscapes which are acutely drawn. We are also encouraged to consider the socio-economic impact of the gentrification of areas, and the displacement of those people whom called those areas home for pretty much all their lives.
What more can I say - except I absolutely loved every single page of this (apart from perhaps the last few pages - without giving anything away!) and you absolutely must read it.
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC.
What a beautiful character driven novel, spanning four decades in the lives of two Irish immigrants, Milly and Pip. They are clearly fragile, vulnerable and slightly broken young people, whom we as readers come to care for from the opening pages .This is a book very much about deep love in its many forms, but please do not expect it to fit comfortably in the romance genre. This is a book about real life, all its warts and all - and there are some tough themes - alcoholism, adoption, child loss, sexual abuse, loneliness, alongside examining London pub life, sense of community and complex familial relationships, which are just some of the elements encompassed in this book.
London stands tall throughout, with its changing faces told with great authenticity, evoking both the eras and landscapes which are acutely drawn. We are also encouraged to consider the socio-economic impact of the gentrification of areas, and the displacement of those people whom called those areas home for pretty much all their lives.
What more can I say - except I absolutely loved every single page of this (apart from perhaps the last few pages - without giving anything away!) and you absolutely must read it.
Thank you to Net Galley for an ARC.
February 5, 2025
Irish writers are my favourite 📚
February 22, 2025
Oh Pip and Milly! This is a heart wrenching lesson about how difficult love can be when the timing is not right.
“But he loves her - that much she does know. But maybe it’s not enough, she thinks now. Or maybe it’s just too much.
I loved the gentleness of his book and the way it captured the slow decay of this part of London. How things change around us but the past can still be glimpsed behind walls and doors and down alleys. How we can know but not know someone and how we can learn to accept people as they are.
“But he loves her - that much she does know. But maybe it’s not enough, she thinks now. Or maybe it’s just too much.
I loved the gentleness of his book and the way it captured the slow decay of this part of London. How things change around us but the past can still be glimpsed behind walls and doors and down alleys. How we can know but not know someone and how we can learn to accept people as they are.
August 11, 2024
I am finding it hard to review this book as I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it. The two characters the book centres around are Milly and Pip (Phil). The book tells the story of their lives, the good, the bad and everything in between. The supporting characters are well thought out and portrayed in a way whereby you won’t forget most of them. The story delves in depth into the relationship of Milly and Pip and their relationships with others, family and friends
The story was okay, not brilliant or spellbinding but an ok story. I felt it ended quite abruptly whereas I would have liked to know various things and how certain situations panned out.
Not a bad read but not blistering and a little slow.
The story was okay, not brilliant or spellbinding but an ok story. I felt it ended quite abruptly whereas I would have liked to know various things and how certain situations panned out.
Not a bad read but not blistering and a little slow.
March 18, 2025
Good family saga over generations, right up my alley.
February 13, 2025
I love Irish writers and I don’t know why. Definitely helped that it was set in London. Good read during very very grey days.
August 14, 2024
Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey
The setting for this story is London 1979 where the main protagonists are two Irish teenagers who have come to London to make a better life. Milly has run away from her unkind family and finds work in a pub where she meets friends and the owner Mrs Oak who treats her like her own daughter.
Pip, a rising star in the boxing world could lose it all through his love of drink and the secret he is hiding which could show its head at any time. The friendship between these two spans over four decades coming in and out of each other's lives at different times. This book didn’t come together for me and I found it quite disjoining. The story was very balanced towards Pip and we learn so much of his past, and his relationship with his family but discover almost nothing of Millie’s. It was far too long with unnecessary and redundant paragraphs and yet there were some important revelations that I felt were told in a very detached way. The ending was so rushed and came on suddenly. It didn’t intrigue me and I thought it quite disappointing There seemed to be far too many chapters where the protagonist is walking through London reminiscing about various places and describing how the area has changed and deteriorated.
This was supposed to be a love story but it was too understated and low-key for me with zero passion. The novel is character-based however, there were no characters that made any huge impression on me and I didn’t find any of the story excited me. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a hit with me, but I know many will find this book's slow, gentle tone enjoyable. Thank you to @netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this novel.
The setting for this story is London 1979 where the main protagonists are two Irish teenagers who have come to London to make a better life. Milly has run away from her unkind family and finds work in a pub where she meets friends and the owner Mrs Oak who treats her like her own daughter.
Pip, a rising star in the boxing world could lose it all through his love of drink and the secret he is hiding which could show its head at any time. The friendship between these two spans over four decades coming in and out of each other's lives at different times. This book didn’t come together for me and I found it quite disjoining. The story was very balanced towards Pip and we learn so much of his past, and his relationship with his family but discover almost nothing of Millie’s. It was far too long with unnecessary and redundant paragraphs and yet there were some important revelations that I felt were told in a very detached way. The ending was so rushed and came on suddenly. It didn’t intrigue me and I thought it quite disappointing There seemed to be far too many chapters where the protagonist is walking through London reminiscing about various places and describing how the area has changed and deteriorated.
This was supposed to be a love story but it was too understated and low-key for me with zero passion. The novel is character-based however, there were no characters that made any huge impression on me and I didn’t find any of the story excited me. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a hit with me, but I know many will find this book's slow, gentle tone enjoyable. Thank you to @netgalley for an advanced reader copy of this novel.
November 2, 2024
Bleak but good. Went to see her give a reading from it a week ago. I told her I liked her book.
February 2, 2025
It will be hard to beat this wonderful book for me this year. The story is beautifully revealed and expertly told by the author. We meet Milly and Pip and their lives in London as they touch each other... It's heartbreaking, brutal, funny, poignant, sad.. I loved the characters, the setting and the story was hugely satisfying.
September 4, 2024
With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for offering an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
This novel is advertised as a searing love story, which I think is not quite right. It chronicles the lives of Pip and Milly who, for the most time, are completely separate. As such, I found it difficult to connect with, or understand, their love of one another; nor did I really understand their actions throughout the decades as we follow their highs and lows. I would have liked some more background information, especially for Milly. At times, the prose flowed and found myself getting lost in hours of reading; and elsewhere in the novel I was bored, wanting to skip long sections of irrelevant descriptions or scenes. There was also something about the writing -perhaps the insistence on referring to the main characters as he/she (as opposed to their names), which, when other characters were involved, ended up being really confusing- that irked me. I can see why some people love this novel, it’s just not for me.
This novel is advertised as a searing love story, which I think is not quite right. It chronicles the lives of Pip and Milly who, for the most time, are completely separate. As such, I found it difficult to connect with, or understand, their love of one another; nor did I really understand their actions throughout the decades as we follow their highs and lows. I would have liked some more background information, especially for Milly. At times, the prose flowed and found myself getting lost in hours of reading; and elsewhere in the novel I was bored, wanting to skip long sections of irrelevant descriptions or scenes. There was also something about the writing -perhaps the insistence on referring to the main characters as he/she (as opposed to their names), which, when other characters were involved, ended up being really confusing- that irked me. I can see why some people love this novel, it’s just not for me.
February 18, 2025
3.5
Nou dikke tranen hoor op het eind. Het is geen bijzonder goed boek maar wel een bijzonder mooi verhaal. Ik was zo dom dit vertaald te kopen (?!) ik denk dat het in het Engels veel beter is hoor en dat er dan een ster bovenop zou komen. Een beetje zon boek van “en toen ging ze dit en toen zag ze dat�, weinig diepgang, maar wel een mooie liefdesvertelling, lekker uitgewerkte personages en een hele rijke schets van Londen. Dat is gewoon altijd heerlijk als je het mij vraagt.
Nou dikke tranen hoor op het eind. Het is geen bijzonder goed boek maar wel een bijzonder mooi verhaal. Ik was zo dom dit vertaald te kopen (?!) ik denk dat het in het Engels veel beter is hoor en dat er dan een ster bovenop zou komen. Een beetje zon boek van “en toen ging ze dit en toen zag ze dat�, weinig diepgang, maar wel een mooie liefdesvertelling, lekker uitgewerkte personages en een hele rijke schets van Londen. Dat is gewoon altijd heerlijk als je het mij vraagt.
January 2, 2025
The abrupt ending without any explanation ruined the entire book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2025
A lovely big book, that could’ve done with 50 less pages.
The story, at the end, was a bit tedious imo�
Still, solid 4 stars as i was intrigued with Milly and Pip’s story.
The story, at the end, was a bit tedious imo�
Still, solid 4 stars as i was intrigued with Milly and Pip’s story.
February 18, 2025
4.5/5 stars!!!!! BOOKKKKKKKK THIS MADE ME FEEL HAPPY/SAD/ANGRY/NOSTALGIC/ETC. just SO MUCH EMOTION!!!!!! Great book great read.
Read
March 7, 2025Wow
March 13, 2025
Slow but expansive. Could have been 100 pages shorter but is rich with little details which paint the characters lives.
November 3, 2024
A gentle sad book about two Irish immigrants in London from 1979 to 1917. For different reasons both lead lives that don’t go anywhere although there are moments of connection and redemption. Some lovely writing and great audiobook narration.
February 8, 2025
Omg this is really making me cry it just was so sweet
March 3, 2025
Intimate, poignant, beautiful. My heart aches for this wonderful book.
December 21, 2024
Pageturner. Roman over een Iers meisje en iets oudere ook Ierse jongen die elkaar op jonge leeftijd in Londen leren kennen. De liefde heeft tijd nodig. Prachtige beschrijving van het leven in Londen tussen pakweg 1998 en 2017 en mensen die hard moeten werken om te kunnen leven.
October 20, 2024
This storey follows the lives of two Irish immigrants, Milly and Pip, in England. They first meet in a pub in 1970’s London and it goes up until 2017. Pip moved to England when he was a child and is a boxer in the club across from the pub. Milly has just moved across to England and is pregnant and works in the pub. There is a connected between these two characters. We learn about their lives as the story progress over the decades. The author creates a picture of London, and society, and how they both change as the characters grow. I really enjoyed the book, even though heavy topics are carried throughout. I particularly enjoyed the character of the pub owner, Mrs. Oates, and her role in both their lives. would definitely recommend.
November 7, 2024
This book had great potential, but it was way too vague for me. Way too much over and back in times. It was a much too difficult read to say I enjoyed it, it was only alright. Nothing like what I was hoping for, it had tons of positive recommendations, from here and elsewhere. Happy to complete this very big (and quite) boring book.
July 1, 2024
Beautifully told tale of Irish diaspora in London : shades of Colm Toibin and Patrick Hamilton
From the cover, the London bar setting, and the natures of the two main characters, not to mention the subtle, clear writing, and the trajectories of their stories, I found myself within the particular melancholy tugs of Patrick Hamilton’s world : Hangover Square, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, The Slaves of Solitude. For me, to be REMINDED of Hamilton by my own sense, rather than any publisher blurb, meant it was the quality of the writing which was doing this.
Ditto, to be reminded of Colm Toibin, and this was not just because the central characters (and indeed many others) are Irish, now relocated to London, for various reasons. Dwyer Hickey creates flawed, unique, complex, believable individuals who work their way inside the reader’s heart, and whom the reader cares deeply for, despite all their wrong turns and mistakes, just as Toibin does
This is very very far from being ‘just a romance� though the central there and not there relationship between Milly and Pip, across 4 decades, is the point.
It is 1979, and Milly, late teens, arrives suddenly in London, alone, homeless and jobless, in circumstances which might be guessed at. This was at a time when general suspicions about Irish people were high, and it was not straightforward to get employment or to rent. Milly is looking for live in employment, and finds it, courtesy of a tip off from an Irish barman, in a Clerkenwell pub.
The clientele of the pub is varied, at all hours. Amongst the regulars are a group of often rowdy young men from a local boxing club. Amongst them is a dreamier, melancholic young Irish man, Pip, beautiful, potentially a rising star in the profession, but with his own interior darkness and secrets. What isn’t so hidden is his heavy drinking. He seems a slightly odd young man to be pursuing a professional career in boxing. His older brother, Dominic is an up-and-coming- or even already come, jazz trumpeter.
Milly, reserved, in many ways an innocent, and unsuited to the rough and tumble of bar work, spots something in Pip, some connection of pain and secrecy.
The third main character in this thoughtful, immersive book is London itself, and the particular area of its settings. Dwyer Hickey tells the story of the prevailing and changing culture and social history through the place as much as through the people living in it.
And � no spoilers, but the ending is stunning, pitch perfect
I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me this wonderful book as an ARC. I didn’t know this author before, but will now be exploring her back catalogue for sure
From the cover, the London bar setting, and the natures of the two main characters, not to mention the subtle, clear writing, and the trajectories of their stories, I found myself within the particular melancholy tugs of Patrick Hamilton’s world : Hangover Square, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, The Slaves of Solitude. For me, to be REMINDED of Hamilton by my own sense, rather than any publisher blurb, meant it was the quality of the writing which was doing this.
Ditto, to be reminded of Colm Toibin, and this was not just because the central characters (and indeed many others) are Irish, now relocated to London, for various reasons. Dwyer Hickey creates flawed, unique, complex, believable individuals who work their way inside the reader’s heart, and whom the reader cares deeply for, despite all their wrong turns and mistakes, just as Toibin does
This is very very far from being ‘just a romance� though the central there and not there relationship between Milly and Pip, across 4 decades, is the point.
It is 1979, and Milly, late teens, arrives suddenly in London, alone, homeless and jobless, in circumstances which might be guessed at. This was at a time when general suspicions about Irish people were high, and it was not straightforward to get employment or to rent. Milly is looking for live in employment, and finds it, courtesy of a tip off from an Irish barman, in a Clerkenwell pub.
The clientele of the pub is varied, at all hours. Amongst the regulars are a group of often rowdy young men from a local boxing club. Amongst them is a dreamier, melancholic young Irish man, Pip, beautiful, potentially a rising star in the profession, but with his own interior darkness and secrets. What isn’t so hidden is his heavy drinking. He seems a slightly odd young man to be pursuing a professional career in boxing. His older brother, Dominic is an up-and-coming- or even already come, jazz trumpeter.
Milly, reserved, in many ways an innocent, and unsuited to the rough and tumble of bar work, spots something in Pip, some connection of pain and secrecy.
The third main character in this thoughtful, immersive book is London itself, and the particular area of its settings. Dwyer Hickey tells the story of the prevailing and changing culture and social history through the place as much as through the people living in it.
And � no spoilers, but the ending is stunning, pitch perfect
I am grateful to the publishers and NetGalley for allowing me this wonderful book as an ARC. I didn’t know this author before, but will now be exploring her back catalogue for sure
November 1, 2024
This is a large book at over 500 pages in the hardback edition, I flew through it. I began reading whilst on a flight to Portugal and finished it the day that I arrived. There's something very special about the writing, it creeps up and drags the reader in. It is enticing and colourful and the characters are brilliantly created.
This is a love story that spans decades, but it is not a romance. It can be beautiful, and brutal. Heartfelt and heartbreaking. This is about real love, about real people, there are no hearts and flowers, it's passionate and intimate.
Our lead characters are Milly and Pip, both young, both Irish and both living in London. Milly has recently fled her home in Ireland and has taken a job as a barmaid in a back street pub. The landlady, Mrs Oak is a good, kind woman and whilst Milly has traumas and troubles to deal with, she feels safe in the pub. Pip has lived in London since his family moved over from Ireland when he was a boy. His older brother is a an up and coming musician and Pip himself is a promising young boxer. He is also a drinker, often a solitary drinker. He is a beautiful man, and as Milly serves him and watches him, she becomes more attracted to him.
It is inevitable that these two young people will eventually get together, but it's not a relationship that will last as they hoped. It is a fleeting experience, but is also the beginning of a friendship that will last for forty years, with many hurdles along the way. Both Milly and Pip will meet and marry other people, but both of them will hold in their hearts, those early days in the pub.
The author touches on just what it was like to be Irish in the 70s and 80s in London. How difficult it could be to be trusted, to get a job, to prove that you were not about to throw a bomb through a window.
Dwyer Hickey has created a story that is filled with hope, yet that hope is so often dashed. As Pip veers off into alcoholism and danger, Milly continues her life with his shadow always behind her.
The city of London itself is as much a character as the humans. Events including terror attacks, the death of famous gangsters and the devastation that is the Grenfell Tower fire are incorporated into the story, making it feel so real. As London changes and develops over the years, with the demolishing of old building, and the regeneration of areas, the reader travels the streets alongside Pip and Milly. Watching them change, just like the city.
This is a truly beautiful novel, written with compassion, featuring two very flawed people who each have to find their own way in life, as difficult as that can be for both of them. It can be dark, but it is always perfectly pitched. A wonderful read, highly recommended.
This is a love story that spans decades, but it is not a romance. It can be beautiful, and brutal. Heartfelt and heartbreaking. This is about real love, about real people, there are no hearts and flowers, it's passionate and intimate.
Our lead characters are Milly and Pip, both young, both Irish and both living in London. Milly has recently fled her home in Ireland and has taken a job as a barmaid in a back street pub. The landlady, Mrs Oak is a good, kind woman and whilst Milly has traumas and troubles to deal with, she feels safe in the pub. Pip has lived in London since his family moved over from Ireland when he was a boy. His older brother is a an up and coming musician and Pip himself is a promising young boxer. He is also a drinker, often a solitary drinker. He is a beautiful man, and as Milly serves him and watches him, she becomes more attracted to him.
It is inevitable that these two young people will eventually get together, but it's not a relationship that will last as they hoped. It is a fleeting experience, but is also the beginning of a friendship that will last for forty years, with many hurdles along the way. Both Milly and Pip will meet and marry other people, but both of them will hold in their hearts, those early days in the pub.
The author touches on just what it was like to be Irish in the 70s and 80s in London. How difficult it could be to be trusted, to get a job, to prove that you were not about to throw a bomb through a window.
Dwyer Hickey has created a story that is filled with hope, yet that hope is so often dashed. As Pip veers off into alcoholism and danger, Milly continues her life with his shadow always behind her.
The city of London itself is as much a character as the humans. Events including terror attacks, the death of famous gangsters and the devastation that is the Grenfell Tower fire are incorporated into the story, making it feel so real. As London changes and develops over the years, with the demolishing of old building, and the regeneration of areas, the reader travels the streets alongside Pip and Milly. Watching them change, just like the city.
This is a truly beautiful novel, written with compassion, featuring two very flawed people who each have to find their own way in life, as difficult as that can be for both of them. It can be dark, but it is always perfectly pitched. A wonderful read, highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 104 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.