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The Alternatives
“A tale about sisterhood, a novel of ideas, a chronicle of our collective follies, a requiem for our agonizing species, The Alternatives unfolds in a prose full of gorgeous surprises and glows with intelligence, compassion, and beauty.” —Hernan Diaz
From the writer Anthony Doerr calls “a massive talent,” the story of four brilliant Irish sisters, orphaned in childhood, who scramble to reconnect when the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside
The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties—all single, all with PhDs—they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London’s Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth’s future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn’t want to be found. Sheltered in a derelict bungalow, they reach into their common past, confronting both old wounds and a desperately uncertain future. Warm, fiercely witty, and unexpectedly hopeful, The Alternatives is an unforgettable portrait of a family perched on our collective precipice, told by one of Ireland’s most gifted storytellers.
From the writer Anthony Doerr calls “a massive talent,” the story of four brilliant Irish sisters, orphaned in childhood, who scramble to reconnect when the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside
The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties—all single, all with PhDs—they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London’s Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth’s future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn’t want to be found. Sheltered in a derelict bungalow, they reach into their common past, confronting both old wounds and a desperately uncertain future. Warm, fiercely witty, and unexpectedly hopeful, The Alternatives is an unforgettable portrait of a family perched on our collective precipice, told by one of Ireland’s most gifted storytellers.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2024
About the author
Caoilinn Hughes
6 books241 followersCaoilinn Hughes is the author of THE WILD LAUGHTER (2020), which won the Royal Society of Literature's Encore Award and was longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Her first novel, ORCHID & THE WASP (2018) won the Collyer Bristow Prize and was longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. Her short stories have won the Irish Book Awards' Story of the Year, The Moth Short Story Prize, and an O.Henry Prize. She was recently Oscar Wilde Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin and a Cullman Center Fellow at New York Public Library. THE ALTERNATIVES (Riverhead/Oneworld 2024) is her third novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 211 reviews
February 21, 2024
“…a rapid scramble through…memory, that catchment basin of regrets.”
My first foray into this author, who is, to me, the love child of Kevin Barry and Ali Smith,-- and maybe David Foster Wallace is her uncle. Yet, she is suis generis. All her own. And, there’s a little bit of Bee Sting ending but it’s a glass half full rather than a glass half empty. OK, I hope what I just wrote is not derogatory these days---love child and all that. I’m old school. Forgive my trespasses and just enjoy the transgressions of the characters. The flourishing story. You don’t get the whole palette for a while, which may frustrate direct involvement. But once I got on, I got on! Just know that you have to be able to live with a certain degree of uncertainty for longer than your usual comfort zone.
Caoilinn Hughes just windswept me, she blew me away. Slowly, though. OK, she may be a niche author, because you get out of it what you put into it. This novel is not a sudden grab-you book. Not in the plotted-ness way. She doesn’t broadcast or state the obvious. She points you to the character she is writing about at any given moment. What you do is observe what they are doing. She’s a physical, vigorous writer. The characters are always DOING things. You learn about them and peep out the plot (and eventually, themes) by watching what they do, and there’s a lot of doing.
And that baby. That baby Leo. He is priceless. I never wanted a boy baby until Leo! I want to see him get those candy fish. I wanted to get a spoon, and eat him up, or just inhale Leo.
The countryside there in Ireland—most breathtaking ever. Now I must go and follow the path of these four sisters. Ireland has always been on my bucket list, now it feels more urgent. As I read, I saw the aperture on this novel open, following one dynamic scene after another. Eventually, they begin to gel. It’s fleshy and corporeal prose, but not pretentious or purple. Gradually, memories and past traumas are revealed, tragedies recovered when the sisters unite.
THE ALTERNATIVES provides a forensic observation of character, from the outside looking in rather than putting it all in the author-to-readers head. It isn’t the plot that moves—it’s the sisters that move, and move the reader--where their eyes roam, where their hands go, their legs move. One sister, Nell, is benumbed in her feet, can’t feel them. She uses her knees on the pedals when driving!
So, there’s four Flattery sisters. I know, dig the name? All have PhDs, but Maeve’s was honorary. Maeve is a culinary foodie chef, adventurous and experimental. When we meet her, she’s doing a catering job for a snob, and there’s food everywhere, the kind you’ve maybe never heard of, it’s so gastronomical. She is running around like crazy, it’s almost hard to keep up. Focus. I had to focus. She lives in London, is writing a book---having a bit of a tension with her publishers. She parks her houseboat where she can, so not always London. And her boatmate tenant is a mime who occasionally speaks.
It opens during current events, with the eldest sister, Olwen, a geology professor in Galway, hyper-concerned with climate change and the planet. Its real, not a “trendy” thing for her. She drinks too much gin and it turns comical at times. Ol lives with her boyfriend and his two adolescent sons. The opening follows her and her students; she is soon on a fieldtrip with them. Her students love her, she is relatable and compassionate about planet Earth, and Ireland.
Rhona is a mover and shaker in the political science world, and teaches at Trinity in Dublin. Leo is her one-year-old son. Nell is a philosophy professor in the States, in Connecticut. And she would be more on tenure track if she was more “academic-capitalist compliant.” But, yeah, no. She’s the benumbed one, also, and the youngest of the four.
These distinct and disparate sisters don’t stay much in contact. They were orphaned early (Nell was only around 11, now she is 33), and Olwen had to finish raising them. Soon after the opening, and this isn’t much of a spoiler, Olwen disappears, which---things as must---it forces the sisters to re-establish contact and locate her. There are some clues, because Olwen is eccentric in Olwen’s ways. We all leave our footprints, no matter what.
So, I’ve laid it out a little. It is full of action and adventure, but as I’ve emphasized, not in the usual plot-centered ways. It took me a while, to be honest, to get into the book. There aren’t any gimmicks, and Hughes doesn’t explain. So, you, the reader, are also the finder, or detective. It’s active reading, not passive sponging. You do arrive, with these four magnetic sisters, at a centered plot. Hughes’ writing is incorruptible, and the narrative advances without station identification or exposition, with subtext all over it. There’s a dusting of social justice, where Hughes’ love of Ireland is evident.
Once I caught up, and the narrative hit its stride, I was rapt. I was transported to everywhere this novel went, all over Ireland, and to the border of Northern Ireland and England. From the small nuances to the big events, I was consumed. All you have to do is pay attention. (I do not suggest this on audio book. Well, I never do audio books but I think it is safe to say this isn’t meant for that). There’s a fellow I fell in love with, too. He’s not a main character, but he could walk off these pages and into my life any day of the week.
I’m dancing with Caoilinn Hughes, following her every step, and every word she plays on the page. Hands down (or up), this will be one of my top books of the year. I’ve been indented with these sisters and this story and baby Leo. And that gentleman I fell for. Oh, and a slice of Dirty Dancing!
Thank you so thoroughly to Riverhead for sending me an ARC to review. I’m going to go back and read more of Hughes’ oeuvre!
My first foray into this author, who is, to me, the love child of Kevin Barry and Ali Smith,-- and maybe David Foster Wallace is her uncle. Yet, she is suis generis. All her own. And, there’s a little bit of Bee Sting ending but it’s a glass half full rather than a glass half empty. OK, I hope what I just wrote is not derogatory these days---love child and all that. I’m old school. Forgive my trespasses and just enjoy the transgressions of the characters. The flourishing story. You don’t get the whole palette for a while, which may frustrate direct involvement. But once I got on, I got on! Just know that you have to be able to live with a certain degree of uncertainty for longer than your usual comfort zone.
Caoilinn Hughes just windswept me, she blew me away. Slowly, though. OK, she may be a niche author, because you get out of it what you put into it. This novel is not a sudden grab-you book. Not in the plotted-ness way. She doesn’t broadcast or state the obvious. She points you to the character she is writing about at any given moment. What you do is observe what they are doing. She’s a physical, vigorous writer. The characters are always DOING things. You learn about them and peep out the plot (and eventually, themes) by watching what they do, and there’s a lot of doing.
And that baby. That baby Leo. He is priceless. I never wanted a boy baby until Leo! I want to see him get those candy fish. I wanted to get a spoon, and eat him up, or just inhale Leo.
The countryside there in Ireland—most breathtaking ever. Now I must go and follow the path of these four sisters. Ireland has always been on my bucket list, now it feels more urgent. As I read, I saw the aperture on this novel open, following one dynamic scene after another. Eventually, they begin to gel. It’s fleshy and corporeal prose, but not pretentious or purple. Gradually, memories and past traumas are revealed, tragedies recovered when the sisters unite.
THE ALTERNATIVES provides a forensic observation of character, from the outside looking in rather than putting it all in the author-to-readers head. It isn’t the plot that moves—it’s the sisters that move, and move the reader--where their eyes roam, where their hands go, their legs move. One sister, Nell, is benumbed in her feet, can’t feel them. She uses her knees on the pedals when driving!
So, there’s four Flattery sisters. I know, dig the name? All have PhDs, but Maeve’s was honorary. Maeve is a culinary foodie chef, adventurous and experimental. When we meet her, she’s doing a catering job for a snob, and there’s food everywhere, the kind you’ve maybe never heard of, it’s so gastronomical. She is running around like crazy, it’s almost hard to keep up. Focus. I had to focus. She lives in London, is writing a book---having a bit of a tension with her publishers. She parks her houseboat where she can, so not always London. And her boatmate tenant is a mime who occasionally speaks.
It opens during current events, with the eldest sister, Olwen, a geology professor in Galway, hyper-concerned with climate change and the planet. Its real, not a “trendy” thing for her. She drinks too much gin and it turns comical at times. Ol lives with her boyfriend and his two adolescent sons. The opening follows her and her students; she is soon on a fieldtrip with them. Her students love her, she is relatable and compassionate about planet Earth, and Ireland.
Rhona is a mover and shaker in the political science world, and teaches at Trinity in Dublin. Leo is her one-year-old son. Nell is a philosophy professor in the States, in Connecticut. And she would be more on tenure track if she was more “academic-capitalist compliant.” But, yeah, no. She’s the benumbed one, also, and the youngest of the four.
These distinct and disparate sisters don’t stay much in contact. They were orphaned early (Nell was only around 11, now she is 33), and Olwen had to finish raising them. Soon after the opening, and this isn’t much of a spoiler, Olwen disappears, which---things as must---it forces the sisters to re-establish contact and locate her. There are some clues, because Olwen is eccentric in Olwen’s ways. We all leave our footprints, no matter what.
So, I’ve laid it out a little. It is full of action and adventure, but as I’ve emphasized, not in the usual plot-centered ways. It took me a while, to be honest, to get into the book. There aren’t any gimmicks, and Hughes doesn’t explain. So, you, the reader, are also the finder, or detective. It’s active reading, not passive sponging. You do arrive, with these four magnetic sisters, at a centered plot. Hughes’ writing is incorruptible, and the narrative advances without station identification or exposition, with subtext all over it. There’s a dusting of social justice, where Hughes’ love of Ireland is evident.
Once I caught up, and the narrative hit its stride, I was rapt. I was transported to everywhere this novel went, all over Ireland, and to the border of Northern Ireland and England. From the small nuances to the big events, I was consumed. All you have to do is pay attention. (I do not suggest this on audio book. Well, I never do audio books but I think it is safe to say this isn’t meant for that). There’s a fellow I fell in love with, too. He’s not a main character, but he could walk off these pages and into my life any day of the week.
I’m dancing with Caoilinn Hughes, following her every step, and every word she plays on the page. Hands down (or up), this will be one of my top books of the year. I’ve been indented with these sisters and this story and baby Leo. And that gentleman I fell for. Oh, and a slice of Dirty Dancing!
Thank you so thoroughly to Riverhead for sending me an ARC to review. I’m going to go back and read more of Hughes’ oeuvre!
June 3, 2024
one of the things i love so much about caoilinn hughes as a novelist is that she isn't afraid of putting the reader to work. her prose can be difficult and she has a very Faulkner-like approach to mixing action and dialogue but it genuinely feels so rewarding to read. the four sisters of The Alternatives are such individual characters that it'll be hard to forget them. oh, and when the novel turns into a two-act play she displays that knack for dialogue that i genuinely think only irish writers can get right.
March 10, 2024
One of the best books I have read in years/ever. Full review coming.
I just read what I’m fairly sure will be my favourite novel of 2024. I laughed, I wept, I felt big beautiful feelings. At a sentence level I fell to my knees in awe. Hughes gives her reader four remarkable sisters and weaves their past and present in a seamless and completely profound way. And she sets the stage for a surprising and playful use of form. You will not see the Beckettian ending coming. A sense of climate and existential grief gently permeates the novel until it had me weeping on the train. I loved every single thing about this book.
I just read what I’m fairly sure will be my favourite novel of 2024. I laughed, I wept, I felt big beautiful feelings. At a sentence level I fell to my knees in awe. Hughes gives her reader four remarkable sisters and weaves their past and present in a seamless and completely profound way. And she sets the stage for a surprising and playful use of form. You will not see the Beckettian ending coming. A sense of climate and existential grief gently permeates the novel until it had me weeping on the train. I loved every single thing about this book.
June 24, 2024
[Caution: minor spoiler-ish details ensue!]
3.5, rounded down.
I read Hughes first acclaimed novel, Orchid & the Wasp, and had some difficulties with it, but gave it 3 stars and though I skipped her second, wanted to give her another try. This was marginally better, but I still had issues.
First off (and this is an 'It's not you, it's me' senior moments disclaimer) - for the first half, I had problems remembering which sister was which. I had to keep backtracking to figure out who had the baby, who was the geologist, who was oldest, etc. As many reviews have pointed out - the first third introduces us to each sister in turn, but the book doesn't really get out of first gear until they all come together.
My other main issue is that periodically, the action literally STOPS - and we get long, intellectually dense discussions of esoteric things like Heidegger's theories about care, or explications on geologic phenomena or distinctions between Irish political parties, that I am sure are the crux of the author's intentions - but my eyes would glaze over more than once and though I dutifully read on without understanding a lot of it, I couldn't wait to get back to the 'story'. Admittedly, I'm probably just not smart enough for this author! :(
Two more minor problems - there are two scenes I could have REALLY done without - the first is when Rhona uncaringly runs over a poor cat in the road, rather than swerving to avoid it -- animal cruelty of ANY kind (esp. cats!) is anathema for me, and I couldn't ever 'like' or forgive Rhona thereafter. [In actuality, the only character I genuinely liked and could relate to was Maeve, the celebrity chef]. Thematically (the book is largely about who and what we DO care about) it might have been an important scene, but I almost DNF'd the book right there. The second scene involves an audience member sneezing during Rhona's town hall meeting and his fake eyeball shooting out - just yuck. Not necessary!
And my other quibble - for two of the 12 chapters, the author reverts to a playscript format. Now, over 50% of what I read are legit plays (my Ph.D. is in theatre), but this is unlike any 'real' play, in that the stage directions go WAYYYYY beyond what usually transpires (well, except perhaps in O'Neill!), to give detailed background information, characters' thoughts, and other extended details, and the 'action' ranges over so many locations that it would be unfeasible to actually stage any of this (and why/how could you without what happens in the OTHER 10 chapters?). It is, in actuality, just a convenient format to concentrate on dialogue, I suppose, which is fine.
Bottom line, I enjoyed SOME of this, and could see what the author was intending - but it didn't really catch my fancy or have a deep impact. Grudgingly, many of the prose stylings are quite lovely - but just as often they are somewhat clunky, as the Guardian review (below) also points out. A much better book about the reunion of four siblings would be the Booker-nominated The Green Road - although given what's gotten on the longlist the past few years, I could see this getting a nod also.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/bo...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
3.5, rounded down.
I read Hughes first acclaimed novel, Orchid & the Wasp, and had some difficulties with it, but gave it 3 stars and though I skipped her second, wanted to give her another try. This was marginally better, but I still had issues.
First off (and this is an 'It's not you, it's me' senior moments disclaimer) - for the first half, I had problems remembering which sister was which. I had to keep backtracking to figure out who had the baby, who was the geologist, who was oldest, etc. As many reviews have pointed out - the first third introduces us to each sister in turn, but the book doesn't really get out of first gear until they all come together.
My other main issue is that periodically, the action literally STOPS - and we get long, intellectually dense discussions of esoteric things like Heidegger's theories about care, or explications on geologic phenomena or distinctions between Irish political parties, that I am sure are the crux of the author's intentions - but my eyes would glaze over more than once and though I dutifully read on without understanding a lot of it, I couldn't wait to get back to the 'story'. Admittedly, I'm probably just not smart enough for this author! :(
Two more minor problems - there are two scenes I could have REALLY done without - the first is when Rhona uncaringly runs over a poor cat in the road, rather than swerving to avoid it -- animal cruelty of ANY kind (esp. cats!) is anathema for me, and I couldn't ever 'like' or forgive Rhona thereafter. [In actuality, the only character I genuinely liked and could relate to was Maeve, the celebrity chef]. Thematically (the book is largely about who and what we DO care about) it might have been an important scene, but I almost DNF'd the book right there. The second scene involves an audience member sneezing during Rhona's town hall meeting and his fake eyeball shooting out - just yuck. Not necessary!
And my other quibble - for two of the 12 chapters, the author reverts to a playscript format. Now, over 50% of what I read are legit plays (my Ph.D. is in theatre), but this is unlike any 'real' play, in that the stage directions go WAYYYYY beyond what usually transpires (well, except perhaps in O'Neill!), to give detailed background information, characters' thoughts, and other extended details, and the 'action' ranges over so many locations that it would be unfeasible to actually stage any of this (and why/how could you without what happens in the OTHER 10 chapters?). It is, in actuality, just a convenient format to concentrate on dialogue, I suppose, which is fine.
Bottom line, I enjoyed SOME of this, and could see what the author was intending - but it didn't really catch my fancy or have a deep impact. Grudgingly, many of the prose stylings are quite lovely - but just as often they are somewhat clunky, as the Guardian review (below) also points out. A much better book about the reunion of four siblings would be the Booker-nominated The Green Road - although given what's gotten on the longlist the past few years, I could see this getting a nod also.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/16/bo...
https://www.theguardian.com/books/202...
June 24, 2024
I have a bit of a soft spot for Caoilinn Hughes. I wrote a rave review of her second novel The Wild Laughter back when I was taking review writing a bit more seriously, ("beautiful, beguiling prose poetry").
Even then I noted I wasn't a savvy enough reader to appreciate everything that Hughes was doing in that novel.
With The Alternatives I feel that intellectual paucity even more keenly. Has social media turned my brain to mush ? Can I no longer go with the flow when an author decides to be formally daring and plonk a 2-act play down in the middle of a novel ? and the big question - should I take an undergraduate survey course in philosophy to really get the most out of this one ?
Setting aside my "is it you", or "is it me" conundrum, there is much that I loved about this. Four sisters all with PhDs ( well one is honorary ), science, politics, Brexit stuff, a cute redhead toddler and delicious food, plus an excellent ending !
The NYT review sums it up well Hughes’s prose is like a virtuosic jazz number — loose, free and surprising - the question is do you like jazz ?
An enjoyable enigma of a reading experience.
Even then I noted I wasn't a savvy enough reader to appreciate everything that Hughes was doing in that novel.
With The Alternatives I feel that intellectual paucity even more keenly. Has social media turned my brain to mush ? Can I no longer go with the flow when an author decides to be formally daring and plonk a 2-act play down in the middle of a novel ? and the big question - should I take an undergraduate survey course in philosophy to really get the most out of this one ?
Setting aside my "is it you", or "is it me" conundrum, there is much that I loved about this. Four sisters all with PhDs ( well one is honorary ), science, politics, Brexit stuff, a cute redhead toddler and delicious food, plus an excellent ending !
The NYT review sums it up well Hughes’s prose is like a virtuosic jazz number — loose, free and surprising - the question is do you like jazz ?
An enjoyable enigma of a reading experience.
February 26, 2024
“Our capacity to know the world is always going to be greater than our capacity to care for it. No matter how caring a parent or sister or teacher or citizen or activist you are, the deficiency is in-built.”
This brainy chronicle of four Irish sisters turns the dysfunctional family genre upside down and leaves you gasping for air.
The Alternatives demands a careful read and an ability to wrestle with philosophical concepts that are challenging, both emotionally and intellectually. These sisters, who are single with Ph.D degrees, are forces to be reckoned with.
There’s Olwen, the oldest sister, an earth scientist who bemoans the inevitable demise of our planet. After the premature death of their parents, she was responsible for her three younger sisters. These sisters include Rhona, a political scientist, a leading scholar of deliberative democracy, and the only one who’s a mother -- of an adorable one-year-old named Leo. Then comes Maeve, a celebrity chef who is absorbed with food scarcity. Rounding out the family is Nell, an adjunct philosophy professor living in the U.S. who is bisexual but choosing to be celibate.
When Olwen seems to drop off the grid, her younger sisters set out to find her, and quickly, they do. To say Olwen isn’t pleased with that outcome is an understatement. But what should one expect from four willful women, all passionate about the issues plaguing the world today?
Caoilinn Hughes takes a leap of imagination by enfolding a two-act drama in the midst of her prose. The multi-page drama makes readers feel like they have a front-row seat to observe all the action, without anything other than some stage direction removing them from the story. It is a risk to introduce the two-act drama, but it truly pays off by providing a close understanding of the four women up close and personal.
Contemplative, provocative, at turns demanding and compassionate, the Alternatives, the novel is a reminder of the fallacy of control and the limits of causation. I am grateful to Riverhead Books for enabling me to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.
Read
April 27, 2024I am abandoning the book halfway through. The beginning chapters about each of the four sisters were interesting. However, the middle chapters have been difficult to plow through. I find myself falling asleep while reading.
The novel concerns the Flattery sisters who grew up in Ireland. When Olwen, the oldest sister, goes missing, the younger ones reunite to find her. Olwen is living off the grid in an isolated place and does not want any contact with them. I had a hard time understanding why this vibrant and normally considerate woman would abandon her family, boyfriend and boyfriend's small children.
I may pick this book back up in the future.
The novel concerns the Flattery sisters who grew up in Ireland. When Olwen, the oldest sister, goes missing, the younger ones reunite to find her. Olwen is living off the grid in an isolated place and does not want any contact with them. I had a hard time understanding why this vibrant and normally considerate woman would abandon her family, boyfriend and boyfriend's small children.
I may pick this book back up in the future.
May 17, 2024
3/5 stars
The Alternatives is perfectly described by another Goodreads reviewer as “Contemporary Little Women, but they are all depressed. I really wanted to love this family saga of four sisters, not quite estranged but getting close, attempting to reconnect… Unfortunately, for each great idea or brilliant line, there was at least one equally clumsy bit. Eventually, I had to push myself to finish the novel, despite my best efforts.
The Story:
The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties—all single, all with PhDs—they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London’s Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth’s future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn’t want to be found.
What I liked:
The backflap describes this as “a book of ideas”, and rightly so. Caoilinn Hughes clearly planned, plotted and thought out this novel exquisitely from beginning to end. Through these individual characters, she tackles large societal topics (ranging from politics, health-care and wealth-disparity to climate change) and communicates a clear opinion on them. Whether this is a positive or negative for you as a reader will largely depend on if you agree with her statements, but the messages she aims to deliver is received loud and clear.
It makes for an incredibly layered reading experience, where each characters is representative of a larger thing . This stuff is my personal catnip, so for the first 1/3 I was eager to find out where the author would take each of these characters, and how they would all collide once reunited.
What I didn’t like:
Unfortunately, this is where the story began to lose me a bit. It’s only about 40% of the way through that we actually see the sisters interact for the first time with each other. In my opinion, that was too late, and let to the pacing feeling a bit off-balance.
Additionally, for a story so focused on a small cast of characters, I was surprised by how uninvested and disconnected I felt from all of them by the end of their chapters. Perhaps that was mostly because the characters never felt like people to me, but rather “vessels” for the author to communicate the aforementioned messages through. There are multiple occasions where they are metaphors instead of people; to varying degrees of success.
The metaphors and analogies are countless and range from creative to heavy-handed to far-fetched. Whenever it fell in the latter category, things could get really grating…
There is a point where too much is packed into one single novel... A point where a story becomes so oversaturated with themes that it becomes a manifesto rather than a story. A point where the width of the scope comes at the cost of the depth of the characters and the impact they make.
The Alternatives never fully reaches that point, but teeters so close to it, that it shoots itself in the foot.
Overall, this is a novel that I loved on paper, but struggled to connect with in practice. You mileage may vary. I can see this book being nominated for a bunch of prizes, and detested by readers as a “pretentious slog” in equal parts. Both opinions are valid. I sit somewhere in the middle…
Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Alternatives is perfectly described by another Goodreads reviewer as “Contemporary Little Women, but they are all depressed. I really wanted to love this family saga of four sisters, not quite estranged but getting close, attempting to reconnect… Unfortunately, for each great idea or brilliant line, there was at least one equally clumsy bit. Eventually, I had to push myself to finish the novel, despite my best efforts.
The Story:
The Flattery sisters were plunged prematurely into adulthood when their parents died in tragic circumstances. Now in their thirties—all single, all with PhDs—they are each attempting to do meaningful work in a rapidly foundering world. The four lead disparate, distanced lives, from classrooms in Connecticut to ritzy catering gigs in London’s Notting Hill, until one day their oldest sister, a geologist haunted by a terrible awareness of the earth’s future, abruptly vanishes from her work and home. Together for the first time in years, the Flatterys descend on the Irish countryside in search of a sister who doesn’t want to be found.
What I liked:
The backflap describes this as “a book of ideas”, and rightly so. Caoilinn Hughes clearly planned, plotted and thought out this novel exquisitely from beginning to end. Through these individual characters, she tackles large societal topics (ranging from politics, health-care and wealth-disparity to climate change) and communicates a clear opinion on them. Whether this is a positive or negative for you as a reader will largely depend on if you agree with her statements, but the messages she aims to deliver is received loud and clear.
It makes for an incredibly layered reading experience, where each characters is representative of a larger thing . This stuff is my personal catnip, so for the first 1/3 I was eager to find out where the author would take each of these characters, and how they would all collide once reunited.
What I didn’t like:
Unfortunately, this is where the story began to lose me a bit. It’s only about 40% of the way through that we actually see the sisters interact for the first time with each other. In my opinion, that was too late, and let to the pacing feeling a bit off-balance.
Additionally, for a story so focused on a small cast of characters, I was surprised by how uninvested and disconnected I felt from all of them by the end of their chapters. Perhaps that was mostly because the characters never felt like people to me, but rather “vessels” for the author to communicate the aforementioned messages through. There are multiple occasions where they are metaphors instead of people; to varying degrees of success.
The metaphors and analogies are countless and range from creative to heavy-handed to far-fetched. Whenever it fell in the latter category, things could get really grating…
There is a point where too much is packed into one single novel... A point where a story becomes so oversaturated with themes that it becomes a manifesto rather than a story. A point where the width of the scope comes at the cost of the depth of the characters and the impact they make.
The Alternatives never fully reaches that point, but teeters so close to it, that it shoots itself in the foot.
Overall, this is a novel that I loved on paper, but struggled to connect with in practice. You mileage may vary. I can see this book being nominated for a bunch of prizes, and detested by readers as a “pretentious slog” in equal parts. Both opinions are valid. I sit somewhere in the middle…
Many thanks to Oneworld Publications for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
May 12, 2024
I loved the four Irish sisters in this one—all quite brilliant (PhDed, every one), and each trying to make a difference, in their own way, on a stressed planet. Olwen, the eldest, was only 17 when their parents died, and resolutely took over the job of raising her siblings. But as the years passed, their lives took them in different directions, and while their bond stayed firm, they no longer spent much time together. But now Olwen has walked out of her life (away from her geology professor job, and the widower and his two young sons whose lives she salvaged after the death of their wife, mother) and disappeared, without a word to anyone. Her three sisters, alarmed, get together to find her and descend upon her for some kind of intervention, the first time they’ve all been together in 20 years. Amusing, touching, clear-eyed about the state of the planet, with four remarkable women and a memorable cast of rural Irish supporting characters at the heart of a bracing story.
July 6, 2024
It took me a while to get through this book but it was interesting and I enjoyed the dialogue between the sisters.
May 23, 2024
The Irish are really delivering the fiction goods at the moment. The Alternatives is somehow miraculously both a very good ideas novel, and a very good character novel. Hughes made me think deeply about big ideas and problems, and challenged the way I might have thought about these things otherwise, while also drawing my investment into a cast of complex characters, their relationships with themselves, each other, and the world around them. All this sounds very vague, but what I mean to say is this is a novel that made me think and feel. I didn’t see the ending coming but also it was basically perfect? Anyway, just read this, you won’t regret it.
April 28, 2024
I had some trouble with the second part of ‘The Alternatives,’ when the four sisters get together . Their conversations are clever, fast and witty, but they also have unresolved issues from their past and their bickering about it got a bit annoying and tiresome at times. The first and last part are excellent though. Very smart and original, and I was invested in every one of the sisters.
Thank you Penguin Random House US and Edelweiss for the ARC.
Thank you Penguin Random House US and Edelweiss for the ARC.
May 20, 2024
This book is for anyone who has ever doubted women's ability to embody and impart genius and innovation while concurrently dealing with the complexities of loss, motherhood, academia, politics, ailments, and how these hurdles can consequently fracture sisterhood and human connection.
The Flattery sisters, Olwen, Rhona, Nell, and Maeve, tragically lost their parents at a young age, quickly plunging them all into early adulthood, and deep into academia
and self sufficiency as coping mechanisms.
Beginning the book and throughout, we meet these four sisters while they are all in their 30s, all currently choosing not to be in relationships, and all graduates of PHDs. Yet despite these similarities, all 4 sisters complicatedly yet tenderly intellectualize life differently, and internally propose to provide change in the world and meaning to their lives in their own ways.
These women, known intellects of deep renown,
joined in their search for Olwen, who has gone off the grid due to an existential crisis, when together so nonchalantly ponder thesis level topics with thoughtfulness and care, more comfortable pointedly exploring Geology or arguing the causes of global warming than endeavoring into their own emotional traumas, or confronting their joint fear of change and the world of personal, life altering alternatives.
There is a conflicting pointed softness to conversations had between sisters, especially ones of intellectual basis.
Curiously parsing through topics such as Climate Change, sustainability, government politics, birth control, etc. while cooking each other dinner, changing their nephews diaper, looking for something for the other to borrow; as women, and as sisters, they, and we, provide thoughtful and important conversations of academia and intellectualism with a range of complexity that these subiects' pontifications don't naturally have on their own.
I think women of intellect, possessors of doctorates, professors, scientists, etc. are so often seen as less woman than they are, pressured to downplay their innate female qualities in order to be universally acknowledged in their fields. To be taken seriously, often women cannot afford to adopt the same nonchalance around their intelligence that men assume men can; god forbid a woman be intelligent while also being loving, intelligent while beautiful or especially tuned into her appearance, intelligent while also being funny; god forbid a woman contain nuance in her behavior and immense variety in her emotions and feelings. A woman's intelligence must constantly be turned on, it's existence always at risk of being questioned by others.
As women, we are constantly feeling as if we have to moderate ourselves, while also deeply feeling the suffocating
moderation imposed by the rest of the world, and these women are tired of living in moderation, alone, victim of their own attempted intellectualization, their shrugging off of their own feelings, ailments, and relationships, and desperately need this chance to come together to be forced and guided in their attempts to puzzle through their increasingly disparate lives.
Hughes doesn't ask much of the reader, just simply to keep pace with the conversations and thoughts presented, to carefully listen and understand, and it becomes easy to forget you aren't really there, that you could help but join them. She genuinely just asks of you to care, positing that “it's impossible to be in the world, devoid of care." and that's, at the end of the day, all they ask of each other as well.
The Flattery sisters, Olwen, Rhona, Nell, and Maeve, tragically lost their parents at a young age, quickly plunging them all into early adulthood, and deep into academia
and self sufficiency as coping mechanisms.
Beginning the book and throughout, we meet these four sisters while they are all in their 30s, all currently choosing not to be in relationships, and all graduates of PHDs. Yet despite these similarities, all 4 sisters complicatedly yet tenderly intellectualize life differently, and internally propose to provide change in the world and meaning to their lives in their own ways.
These women, known intellects of deep renown,
joined in their search for Olwen, who has gone off the grid due to an existential crisis, when together so nonchalantly ponder thesis level topics with thoughtfulness and care, more comfortable pointedly exploring Geology or arguing the causes of global warming than endeavoring into their own emotional traumas, or confronting their joint fear of change and the world of personal, life altering alternatives.
There is a conflicting pointed softness to conversations had between sisters, especially ones of intellectual basis.
Curiously parsing through topics such as Climate Change, sustainability, government politics, birth control, etc. while cooking each other dinner, changing their nephews diaper, looking for something for the other to borrow; as women, and as sisters, they, and we, provide thoughtful and important conversations of academia and intellectualism with a range of complexity that these subiects' pontifications don't naturally have on their own.
I think women of intellect, possessors of doctorates, professors, scientists, etc. are so often seen as less woman than they are, pressured to downplay their innate female qualities in order to be universally acknowledged in their fields. To be taken seriously, often women cannot afford to adopt the same nonchalance around their intelligence that men assume men can; god forbid a woman be intelligent while also being loving, intelligent while beautiful or especially tuned into her appearance, intelligent while also being funny; god forbid a woman contain nuance in her behavior and immense variety in her emotions and feelings. A woman's intelligence must constantly be turned on, it's existence always at risk of being questioned by others.
As women, we are constantly feeling as if we have to moderate ourselves, while also deeply feeling the suffocating
moderation imposed by the rest of the world, and these women are tired of living in moderation, alone, victim of their own attempted intellectualization, their shrugging off of their own feelings, ailments, and relationships, and desperately need this chance to come together to be forced and guided in their attempts to puzzle through their increasingly disparate lives.
Hughes doesn't ask much of the reader, just simply to keep pace with the conversations and thoughts presented, to carefully listen and understand, and it becomes easy to forget you aren't really there, that you could help but join them. She genuinely just asks of you to care, positing that “it's impossible to be in the world, devoid of care." and that's, at the end of the day, all they ask of each other as well.
March 28, 2024
i can honestly say i don't think i've ever read another book quite like this one.
the alternatives weaves together the stories of four irish sisters who have grown apart in their adult lives following the death of their parents. when olwen, the eldest sister, goes missing, the three other sisters come together for the first time in years to find her and figure out what's going on.
even though the premise of this book sounds thriller-esque, this is a pretty quiet story. ultimately, it focuses on how the four flattery sisters embody different types of care for one another, for themselves, and for the world around them. they all are experts in their fields of study-- olwen in earth science, rhona in political science, maeve in cooking, and nell in philosophy-- but even with their intelligence and expertise in communicating in their respective careers and public lives, they struggle to communicate effectively with one another. i found the interpersonal dynamics between each sister so interesting and complex and well-told.
i also really enjoyed the format of this book! i'll admit the the first and third parts dragged a bit for me, but the second part is written like a play, and i thought that was such a genius choice for when the characters all were together in the same place for the first time. i also appreciated that we got some time in the first part of the book following each individual sister, because this really helped me understand their motivations and quirks and why they interacted with the other sisters the way they did. the way the story wrapped up in the end (for each sister) was perfect.
i definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys literary fiction, and to readers who prefer to read more understated, character-driven stories.
thank you to the publisher for sending a digital ARC my way via netgalley!
the alternatives weaves together the stories of four irish sisters who have grown apart in their adult lives following the death of their parents. when olwen, the eldest sister, goes missing, the three other sisters come together for the first time in years to find her and figure out what's going on.
even though the premise of this book sounds thriller-esque, this is a pretty quiet story. ultimately, it focuses on how the four flattery sisters embody different types of care for one another, for themselves, and for the world around them. they all are experts in their fields of study-- olwen in earth science, rhona in political science, maeve in cooking, and nell in philosophy-- but even with their intelligence and expertise in communicating in their respective careers and public lives, they struggle to communicate effectively with one another. i found the interpersonal dynamics between each sister so interesting and complex and well-told.
i also really enjoyed the format of this book! i'll admit the the first and third parts dragged a bit for me, but the second part is written like a play, and i thought that was such a genius choice for when the characters all were together in the same place for the first time. i also appreciated that we got some time in the first part of the book following each individual sister, because this really helped me understand their motivations and quirks and why they interacted with the other sisters the way they did. the way the story wrapped up in the end (for each sister) was perfect.
i definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys literary fiction, and to readers who prefer to read more understated, character-driven stories.
thank you to the publisher for sending a digital ARC my way via netgalley!
May 9, 2024
I see that many readers loved this, and I just really didn’t get its greatness. I appreciated the reviewer on here who said, “The Alternatives is like if Little Women was Irish, modern and they were all depressed. I wanted to like it more, but the ideas and politics these four sisters spent pages monologuing [about] went over my head and I felt confused most of the time reading it.”
I guess in my case, I did understand the words and politics but I didn’t know why we were reading any of it. I felt like I was basically listening to a conversation between other people, but I largely didn’t care about it and I didn’t understand why any of it was being presented to me.
But all of that said, a lot of people seemed to have loved this.
I guess in my case, I did understand the words and politics but I didn’t know why we were reading any of it. I felt like I was basically listening to a conversation between other people, but I largely didn’t care about it and I didn’t understand why any of it was being presented to me.
But all of that said, a lot of people seemed to have loved this.
April 17, 2024
Thanks to riverheadbooks for the arc
This isn’t the book I expected. I was looking for a cozy, Irish family book, maybe with a bit of mystery, but instead I found a LIT fic novel. Complex, existential, demanding, and dealing with interpersonal dynamics. I only noticed after I started that many of the blurbs call this a ‘novel of ideas’.
The four Flattery sisters are orphans, all with PhDs, in their thirties, unmarried, and haven't been together in years - letting work and geography get in the way. Olwen, the eldest, decides to upend her life without telling anyone, leaving behind her partner and his two sons (but not the drink), which makes the sisters join forces in finding her. But we must get through the first third of the book until this happens, getting to know each sister individually, experiencing what their life situation is currently like and seeing what makes each of them tick. We have:
Olwen - geologist worried about sea levels and erosion
Maeve - influencer/cook worried about food scarcity
Nell - philosophy professor without tenure or healthcare
Rhona - poli sci professor and an expert in deliberate democracies
Once all the sisters are together, some more willingly than others, the novel turns into a two act play where we get pithy dialogue with stage directions, before we go back to the prose narrative. While we never get the direct question we want asked or answered, we do see the sisters come together and get closer to understanding each other and their choices. Hopefully they learn about caring for each other and the importance of community before it’s too late. 👀
While I wasn’t invested in these characters - the academic tone kept me at bay, the pacing was a bit erratic, some of the side stories never panned out for me- I can see that if you are willing and able to engage with this work you will be rewarded. Hughes is asking a lot from you as a reader, but she delivers with amazing writing, vivid characters, philosophical ideas, and familial chaos. This book also reminded me to not come at a book with preconceived ideas, but to meet the author where they are instead.
Btw, the ending is superb.
This isn’t the book I expected. I was looking for a cozy, Irish family book, maybe with a bit of mystery, but instead I found a LIT fic novel. Complex, existential, demanding, and dealing with interpersonal dynamics. I only noticed after I started that many of the blurbs call this a ‘novel of ideas’.
The four Flattery sisters are orphans, all with PhDs, in their thirties, unmarried, and haven't been together in years - letting work and geography get in the way. Olwen, the eldest, decides to upend her life without telling anyone, leaving behind her partner and his two sons (but not the drink), which makes the sisters join forces in finding her. But we must get through the first third of the book until this happens, getting to know each sister individually, experiencing what their life situation is currently like and seeing what makes each of them tick. We have:
Olwen - geologist worried about sea levels and erosion
Maeve - influencer/cook worried about food scarcity
Nell - philosophy professor without tenure or healthcare
Rhona - poli sci professor and an expert in deliberate democracies
Once all the sisters are together, some more willingly than others, the novel turns into a two act play where we get pithy dialogue with stage directions, before we go back to the prose narrative. While we never get the direct question we want asked or answered, we do see the sisters come together and get closer to understanding each other and their choices. Hopefully they learn about caring for each other and the importance of community before it’s too late. 👀
While I wasn’t invested in these characters - the academic tone kept me at bay, the pacing was a bit erratic, some of the side stories never panned out for me- I can see that if you are willing and able to engage with this work you will be rewarded. Hughes is asking a lot from you as a reader, but she delivers with amazing writing, vivid characters, philosophical ideas, and familial chaos. This book also reminded me to not come at a book with preconceived ideas, but to meet the author where they are instead.
Btw, the ending is superb.
April 19, 2024
I simply can't fathom the enormity of this woman's brain!
May 17, 2024
I'm not sure why I didn't DNF this. The premise is promising but the execution is rather boring from beginning to end. The characters feel like caricatures, but it's not committed to being satire either. It's all very witty but I was hoping for a deeper exploration of the sisters’ relationships with each other. The similes that are constantly thrown in are innovative, but get annoying quickly. I didn't care for any of the characters and they often talk to each other like they're lecturing or performing a well-intentioned school play. 'Notions' is what the Irish would call it. I appreciate the attention to detail and the ideas behind the story, though.
March 19, 2024
ARC gifted by the publisher
Since their parents’ accidental death, the orphaned Flattery sisters only have one another. Now in their thirties, after the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside, the four brilliant yet distant sisters scramble to reconnect.
ALTERNATIVES gave me major Booker vibes because of a couple of things:
• No quotations
• Mixed structures (some chapters written as a play)
• Literary style (I don’t think I understood everything)
• Reflective writing (one needs to read between the lines to decipher its meaning)
Among many things, ALTERNATIVES explores the idea of “care.” The four sisters show how people differ in showing love for one another; some prefer to fix a problem, while others let it be. Is there a right way to love? The readers examine how the Flatterys care for each other and how their love for Ireland—rapidly changing in political and actual climate—manifests. I suspect those with a stronger background or passion for Ireland will derive more insight from this book.
Hughes’ detailed writings can be tedious at times, and I often have to reread passages because of the style. I’m still trying to understand what it all means. Is the story about alternative paths? That we don’t have to keep doing what we’ve done? And therefore, there could still be hope—for a fractured family and a divided country.
ALTERNATIVES is a niche novel I’d recommend to lovers of Irish literature, highbrow lit fic fans, and those who aren’t afraid of a challenging read. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
Since their parents’ accidental death, the orphaned Flattery sisters only have one another. Now in their thirties, after the oldest disappears into the Irish countryside, the four brilliant yet distant sisters scramble to reconnect.
ALTERNATIVES gave me major Booker vibes because of a couple of things:
• No quotations
• Mixed structures (some chapters written as a play)
• Literary style (I don’t think I understood everything)
• Reflective writing (one needs to read between the lines to decipher its meaning)
Among many things, ALTERNATIVES explores the idea of “care.” The four sisters show how people differ in showing love for one another; some prefer to fix a problem, while others let it be. Is there a right way to love? The readers examine how the Flatterys care for each other and how their love for Ireland—rapidly changing in political and actual climate—manifests. I suspect those with a stronger background or passion for Ireland will derive more insight from this book.
Hughes’ detailed writings can be tedious at times, and I often have to reread passages because of the style. I’m still trying to understand what it all means. Is the story about alternative paths? That we don’t have to keep doing what we’ve done? And therefore, there could still be hope—for a fractured family and a divided country.
ALTERNATIVES is a niche novel I’d recommend to lovers of Irish literature, highbrow lit fic fans, and those who aren’t afraid of a challenging read. If you’ve read it, I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!
May 11, 2024
This just did not work for me. We start with different chapters following each sister separately - there are four of them. The issue with this, inevitably, is that you end up not being too interested in some of the characters and these chapters felt a bit like a drag.
I was not particularly interested in the story although I liked that a lot of it took place in the West of Ireland, and I disliked the writing. There is a long section - maybe a third of it - written like a play, which I was not expecting and found out of place within the context of the plot. The writing irritated me too - "Rhona's car is murderously clean and acquittingly silent", etc.
Overall, that book just was not for me and I struggled to finish it.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
I was not particularly interested in the story although I liked that a lot of it took place in the West of Ireland, and I disliked the writing. There is a long section - maybe a third of it - written like a play, which I was not expecting and found out of place within the context of the plot. The writing irritated me too - "Rhona's car is murderously clean and acquittingly silent", etc.
Overall, that book just was not for me and I struggled to finish it.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
Read
May 30, 2024I'm still not sure what I think about this book more than a week after finishing it. As I read the first chapters, I thought I was going to love "The Alternatives," but then something changed. I'm not sure what -- and I'm not sure I would have the same reaction were I to read it again now. Which is to say that this review will be of no help in helping anyone to decide whether or not they should read the book.
Be that as it may... "The Alternatives" is unlike any other book I can think of. The humor and word play are delightful. Occasionally Joycean, often snarky. And the main characters were definitely memorable. Four sisters, all PhD's, unmarried, entirely different from one another save for the psychological scars and conflicts born from the sudden dramatic death of their parents and the manner of manner of their upbringing. (Yes, for a moment I did find myself thinking of TV's "Bad Sisters," but not for long...) Olwen, the geology professor whose sudden disappearance sets things in motion. Maeve, a chef made famous on social media, facing a difficult choice. More than one, in fact. Rhona, a political science professor specializing in something called citizens' assemblies (which I should probably know about). And Nell, the philosophy instructor at two Connecticut Universities, for me the most sympathetic of the sisters. Their lives run like threads through the unsettled culture of our time.
I liked individual chapters, the challenges each sister was wrestling with, the two act play popping up in the middle of things. And the striking descriptions that made me pause, sometimes because the image seemed so vivid ("A landscape of moss-ensconced stones and tree trunks and ice-sugared rocky hills. In the morning, everything would be spangled in frost"), sometimes because the collision of unexpected similes made me laugh ("she has the conviction of a tennis ball launcher"; "Trees regulated to neighborly heights nod and shift around, perfectly spaced, perfectly orderly, their branches tucked in like guests who regret coming to the party."; "Nell smiles at her. As does Rhona, the way a lactose intolerant person smiles at an offer of ice cream.") [God help me but I was reminded more than once of a list I'd seen online that purported to be a collection of the worst analogies made by high school students, like this one: "She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up." I honestly don't mean to be critical in mentioning it. They both made me laugh, that's all. Hughes' constructs are deliberate.]
And then there are the charmingly crazy characters, like Halim, the Bosnian mime who lives with sister Maeve ("When she asked how long he’d been in England, he looked around him in a burlesque of bewilderment. Maeve has never seen him out of character: even on the rare occasions when he speaks, he does so as a mime.") There's a Monty Python-like set piece -- or is it Samuel Beckett I'm thinking of? -- where an appreciative passerby leaves a ten-pound note on the ground at Halim's feet. A sudden breeze blows the note away: "It was all Halim could do to contrive a fishing line to try to reel it back, but it took him so long to bait the invisible hook that the note had wafted away by the time he cast out.") Maeve's considering asking Halim to be a sperm donor because, you know, "a mime for a dad, the baby might not cry!"
Social commentary runs through the book, serious even when it's playing at being something else. Rich pompous grandees, with their pretentiousness and eagerness to associate with the latest Big Thing, are savagely skewered (Edmund tucks his thumb between waistcoat buttons, his posture conveying an imaginary cummerbund. Baron de Ramsey, Lord Gillies, Sir Charles. Maeve smiles and lifts her glass an inch toward each man—she’s noticed they don’t cheers. The baron really puts the air into Hello, before adding: Dear, there being no such titles in your republic, I must inform you: the title Sir is accompanied with a first name, not a surname. Sir Jeremy, for example. Oh, Maeve says, smacking herself on the forehead. Of course, it’s not like Doctor!).
And then there are the universities themselves, trying so very hard to keep up with the demands of the marketplace no matter the cost. Nell, the philosophy instructor sister (coping stoically with a serious and worsening illness), is given an "updated" description for the course she is to teach: Ancient Philosophy: From the Pre-Socratics to the Fall of Rome, which has been rebranded as Age-Old Thinking, Today: Hedonism, Cynicism, Self-Help, Growth. The content is now broader and shallower, to accommodate the widest possible array of students: law students getting to grips with alternative facts; chemistry students developing moral elasticity for careers in big pharma; misanthropic literature majors; philosophy students who haven’t done the reading.
And yet, and yet... Something about "The Alternatives" didn't click for me. The book struck me as less than the sum of its parts. Does that make sense? I found the cleverness distracting at times. Distancing. I think I understood what Hughes was after in the riffs about Heidegger but maybe I didn't. Either way, reading them I felt like the author had suddenly downshifted the book's engine, as it were.
I'm very glad that I read "The Alternatives," and maybe at some other time I would be more enthusiastic in my reactions. But other books await. My sincere thanks to Riverhead Books and Edelweis+ for providing an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.
Be that as it may... "The Alternatives" is unlike any other book I can think of. The humor and word play are delightful. Occasionally Joycean, often snarky. And the main characters were definitely memorable. Four sisters, all PhD's, unmarried, entirely different from one another save for the psychological scars and conflicts born from the sudden dramatic death of their parents and the manner of manner of their upbringing. (Yes, for a moment I did find myself thinking of TV's "Bad Sisters," but not for long...) Olwen, the geology professor whose sudden disappearance sets things in motion. Maeve, a chef made famous on social media, facing a difficult choice. More than one, in fact. Rhona, a political science professor specializing in something called citizens' assemblies (which I should probably know about). And Nell, the philosophy instructor at two Connecticut Universities, for me the most sympathetic of the sisters. Their lives run like threads through the unsettled culture of our time.
I liked individual chapters, the challenges each sister was wrestling with, the two act play popping up in the middle of things. And the striking descriptions that made me pause, sometimes because the image seemed so vivid ("A landscape of moss-ensconced stones and tree trunks and ice-sugared rocky hills. In the morning, everything would be spangled in frost"), sometimes because the collision of unexpected similes made me laugh ("she has the conviction of a tennis ball launcher"; "Trees regulated to neighborly heights nod and shift around, perfectly spaced, perfectly orderly, their branches tucked in like guests who regret coming to the party."; "Nell smiles at her. As does Rhona, the way a lactose intolerant person smiles at an offer of ice cream.") [God help me but I was reminded more than once of a list I'd seen online that purported to be a collection of the worst analogies made by high school students, like this one: "She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up." I honestly don't mean to be critical in mentioning it. They both made me laugh, that's all. Hughes' constructs are deliberate.]
And then there are the charmingly crazy characters, like Halim, the Bosnian mime who lives with sister Maeve ("When she asked how long he’d been in England, he looked around him in a burlesque of bewilderment. Maeve has never seen him out of character: even on the rare occasions when he speaks, he does so as a mime.") There's a Monty Python-like set piece -- or is it Samuel Beckett I'm thinking of? -- where an appreciative passerby leaves a ten-pound note on the ground at Halim's feet. A sudden breeze blows the note away: "It was all Halim could do to contrive a fishing line to try to reel it back, but it took him so long to bait the invisible hook that the note had wafted away by the time he cast out.") Maeve's considering asking Halim to be a sperm donor because, you know, "a mime for a dad, the baby might not cry!"
Social commentary runs through the book, serious even when it's playing at being something else. Rich pompous grandees, with their pretentiousness and eagerness to associate with the latest Big Thing, are savagely skewered (Edmund tucks his thumb between waistcoat buttons, his posture conveying an imaginary cummerbund. Baron de Ramsey, Lord Gillies, Sir Charles. Maeve smiles and lifts her glass an inch toward each man—she’s noticed they don’t cheers. The baron really puts the air into Hello, before adding: Dear, there being no such titles in your republic, I must inform you: the title Sir is accompanied with a first name, not a surname. Sir Jeremy, for example. Oh, Maeve says, smacking herself on the forehead. Of course, it’s not like Doctor!).
And then there are the universities themselves, trying so very hard to keep up with the demands of the marketplace no matter the cost. Nell, the philosophy instructor sister (coping stoically with a serious and worsening illness), is given an "updated" description for the course she is to teach: Ancient Philosophy: From the Pre-Socratics to the Fall of Rome, which has been rebranded as Age-Old Thinking, Today: Hedonism, Cynicism, Self-Help, Growth. The content is now broader and shallower, to accommodate the widest possible array of students: law students getting to grips with alternative facts; chemistry students developing moral elasticity for careers in big pharma; misanthropic literature majors; philosophy students who haven’t done the reading.
And yet, and yet... Something about "The Alternatives" didn't click for me. The book struck me as less than the sum of its parts. Does that make sense? I found the cleverness distracting at times. Distancing. I think I understood what Hughes was after in the riffs about Heidegger but maybe I didn't. Either way, reading them I felt like the author had suddenly downshifted the book's engine, as it were.
I'm very glad that I read "The Alternatives," and maybe at some other time I would be more enthusiastic in my reactions. But other books await. My sincere thanks to Riverhead Books and Edelweis+ for providing an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.
May 7, 2024
The Alternatives
By Caoilinn Hughes
I finished this book a week ago and I have been trying to come up with a review that would do justice to this superb piece of artistry, but fear of failure has paralysed me. I'm just going to crack on with it, but honestly, I am just not worthy.
Four Irish sisters, each radically intelligent in their own field, come together in mid life to avert a crisis, while trying to contain their own individual crises and keep the show on the road.
Best not to know too much going into this one, because as in life, the impetus to action and the catalyst to change is seldom what it appears on the surface.
With cracking wit and a mastery of language, Hughes sisters burst from the page as complex and fully developed characters, each of which I am fascinated with. All the side characters are amazing in their own ways and the sense of community is palpable.
The dynamics between the sisters, individuation and collectively are nuanced, hilarious and highly relatable.
Stylistically, Hughes is in a league of her own. A structure that works effortlessly to ground you in a complicated set of perspectives, a play within a novel, and what to me were thrilling insights into geology, psychology, philosophy, social and political reform and gastronomy. At times I knew she was just showing off, but I loved it.
There's no getting away from how Irish this book is, linguistically and attitude-wise. It's charm is universal but it's deep appeal is in how it tittilates at a cultural level.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #Oneworldpublications for the ARC.
By Caoilinn Hughes
I finished this book a week ago and I have been trying to come up with a review that would do justice to this superb piece of artistry, but fear of failure has paralysed me. I'm just going to crack on with it, but honestly, I am just not worthy.
Four Irish sisters, each radically intelligent in their own field, come together in mid life to avert a crisis, while trying to contain their own individual crises and keep the show on the road.
Best not to know too much going into this one, because as in life, the impetus to action and the catalyst to change is seldom what it appears on the surface.
With cracking wit and a mastery of language, Hughes sisters burst from the page as complex and fully developed characters, each of which I am fascinated with. All the side characters are amazing in their own ways and the sense of community is palpable.
The dynamics between the sisters, individuation and collectively are nuanced, hilarious and highly relatable.
Stylistically, Hughes is in a league of her own. A structure that works effortlessly to ground you in a complicated set of perspectives, a play within a novel, and what to me were thrilling insights into geology, psychology, philosophy, social and political reform and gastronomy. At times I knew she was just showing off, but I loved it.
There's no getting away from how Irish this book is, linguistically and attitude-wise. It's charm is universal but it's deep appeal is in how it tittilates at a cultural level.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #Oneworldpublications for the ARC.
November 15, 2023
I read this book while I was traveling around Ireland and it was delightful being in the same country as the characters. Caroilin Hughes wrote so beautifully about sisterhood and it’s changing dynamics over time. I enjoyed this arc so much and can’t wait for the pub date on April 16th!
May 23, 2024
truly excellent, even without knowing around 20% of the vocabulary (hadn’t realised i was quite so dumb). the irish and their lack of quotation marks!!!
June 16, 2024
I felt like the author was trying to exclude the “common reader”. There were no quotations so you really had to work hard to know who was speaking. There was zero description of the main characters OTHER than conversation which meant the reader had to work really hard to figure out who the main characters were in the literary sense. And THEN it switched to dialogue like how a play script would read. I felt like, at the finish, there was going to be a collegiate discussion of what the book was trying to convey and no matter what I’d say- I’d have the wrong interpretation… Like a judgmental college professor. This is not why I read. It felt pretentious.
June 19, 2024
the audacity, what the heck
June 15, 2024
Rushed to read this after Jaclyn Crupi’s rave review!
And I really enjoyed it. I totally related to the feelings of existential/climate hopelessness and grief. Lots of things going on in this book and so many beautiful characters and sentences. I’m surprised it isn’t getting more coverage.
Also I saw somewhere it was compared to the tv show Bad Sisters (which I loved). Possibly only because there’s 4 Irish sisters but there could be something in that…
And I really enjoyed it. I totally related to the feelings of existential/climate hopelessness and grief. Lots of things going on in this book and so many beautiful characters and sentences. I’m surprised it isn’t getting more coverage.
Also I saw somewhere it was compared to the tv show Bad Sisters (which I loved). Possibly only because there’s 4 Irish sisters but there could be something in that…
March 9, 2024
The Flattery sisters are all very different in character. After their parents died prematurely, Olwin, the eldest in her teens took over care of the other three. We start the book following her many years later as she's now in her thirties and a geologist, very tempted by the bottle, and she decides to disappear.
In the first third of the book we're meeting the other three sisters as they're coming together to look for their sister in the Irish countryside. What ensues is comedic and amusing, while being cathartic for the characters. In fact, about halfway through the form changes and is written like a play with each character delivering their lines in speedy little snippets with full force. While it was comedic it was never really endearingly funny or not funny in the way I would want.
The writing took some time for me to get used to. Even by the end I was not a fan of the style of writing. It felt overly detailed and certainly strong in personality but neither the plot nor the characters really grabbed me. You are really just observing them in the moment and picking up on what you can from what they're saying about each other.
But they are funny together and have an interesting dynamic. The most interesting part to me was about halfway through when the author switches to the play format, when the sisters are all together. If more of the book had been centered on their dynamic together I think I may have enjoyed the book overall more than I did.
In the first third of the book we're meeting the other three sisters as they're coming together to look for their sister in the Irish countryside. What ensues is comedic and amusing, while being cathartic for the characters. In fact, about halfway through the form changes and is written like a play with each character delivering their lines in speedy little snippets with full force. While it was comedic it was never really endearingly funny or not funny in the way I would want.
The writing took some time for me to get used to. Even by the end I was not a fan of the style of writing. It felt overly detailed and certainly strong in personality but neither the plot nor the characters really grabbed me. You are really just observing them in the moment and picking up on what you can from what they're saying about each other.
But they are funny together and have an interesting dynamic. The most interesting part to me was about halfway through when the author switches to the play format, when the sisters are all together. If more of the book had been centered on their dynamic together I think I may have enjoyed the book overall more than I did.
April 23, 2024
The Alternatives is like if Little Women was Irish, modern and they were all depressed. I wanted to like it more, but the ideas and politics these four sisters spent pages monologuing went over my head and I felt confused most of the time reading it. I have a soft spot for stories exploring childhood trauma, especially regarding sisters/eldest sisters so I definitely felt more drawn into that aspect of it. I was hoping the sisters coming together in the middle of the book would have a more optimistic outcome, but what did happen makes sense for the story. It's not my cup of tea, but it is very well-written with strongly fleshed out characters, so I can see why other people love it! I would reccommend this to anyone wanting a dreary-in-a-good-way, slice-of-life Irish family drama dealing with being forced to grow up too fast and environmental politics.
(Thank you to Riverhead Books and Caoilinn Hughes for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.)
(Thank you to Riverhead Books and Caoilinn Hughes for the ARC. All thoughts are my own.)
May 14, 2024
I wound up skimming most of this after I checked the ending to see what happened, then realized I didn't care how it got there.
A geology professor in Galway, Ireland obsessed with climate change leaves her job and family to roam around the countryside.
The first chapter was mostly technical geological descriptions and the woman trying to scare her students into caring about the environment. She clearly has a family that she loves and that love her, but for some reason she gets on her bike in the middle of the night and leaves.
The second chapter is her sister (she has three) a renewed chef hosting a party at a client's home. Lots of technical cooking description (I love to cook, but it didn't engage me) and the back story, kind of of her family situation.
That's when I checked the ending.
Also, there were never quotation marks for dialogue. I found that annoying. I like stream of consciousness but this was hard to follow.
A geology professor in Galway, Ireland obsessed with climate change leaves her job and family to roam around the countryside.
The first chapter was mostly technical geological descriptions and the woman trying to scare her students into caring about the environment. She clearly has a family that she loves and that love her, but for some reason she gets on her bike in the middle of the night and leaves.
The second chapter is her sister (she has three) a renewed chef hosting a party at a client's home. Lots of technical cooking description (I love to cook, but it didn't engage me) and the back story, kind of of her family situation.
That's when I checked the ending.
Also, there were never quotation marks for dialogue. I found that annoying. I like stream of consciousness but this was hard to follow.
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