Blog Nº 60
“We don’t know others. They are an enigma. We can’t know them, especially those we are most intimate with, because habit blurs us and hope blinds us with truth.”
The Guardian describes The Little Red Chairs as ‘a chilling masterpiece’, and after reading it I’m inclined to agree. In terms of style and content it is unique, making for a compelling and thought-provoking read.
The Little Red Chairs is set in the small fictional Irish village of Cloonoila where the community is tight-knit. It is here we meet Balkan war criminal Dr Vlad, who hides out in the village posing as a holistic healer and sex therapist. The story is told from the perspectives of the women he meets. One woman in particular, Fidelma, is drawn to Dr Vlad. Having suffered two miscarriages with her husband, she hopes Dr Vlad can cure her. Stuck in a lonely and somewhat suffocating marriage, Fidelma embarks on an affair with Dr Vlad and falls pregnant, which unfortunately coincides with Dr Vlad’s arrest and the revelation of his true identity to herself and the rest of the shocked community. The events that follow force us to confront morality, humanity and darkness in this novel that is at once uncomfortable intimate as well as daring and far-reaching.
Dr Vlad is loosely based on the real life ‘Butcher of Bosnia’ Radovan Karadžić, who is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia after the Bosnian War. O’Brien has cleverly weaved him into the novel as Dr Vlad, the same way that she seamlessly swaps between tenses and character headspaces. All of this culminates in a distinctive narrative style. It can take some getting used to but it’s worth it for the impact the book will have on you.
The Little Red Chairs is an original novel which will leave you pondering world events, day-to-day struggles and pressing moral questions for some time after. Astonishing when you consider that O’Brien was 85 at the time of publication. A must-read!
Happy reading,
Imo x
ImoReads 