Big Girl, Small Town
Meet Majella O’Neill, a heroine like no other. Growing up in Northern Ireland just after the Troubles, Majella lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother and working in the local chip shop, but when her predictable existence is upended, she realizes there might just be whole big world outside her small town. Don’t miss this unforgettable debut from the author of the hot new novel Factory Girls.
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Community Reviews
Big Girl, Small Town is darkly humorous and satisfyingly odd. While the writing style and the heavy Irish dialect take some getting used to, it's easy to follow and makes the story (and characters) come alive.*
The reader gets to spend a week with Majella, a twenty-something girl who unknowingly falls somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Her life revolves around cleaning up after her alcoholic mother, binge-watching old episodes of Dallas, and working evenings frying up food at the local chip shop. But while her life appears ordinary at first, we slowly discover Majella grew up during the Troubles, her father has disappeared, and now her grandmother has died. She's doing her best to make it from day to day, but it's hard when she doesn't like change and doesn't like Other People.
The novel is broken down into days and then within each day is sections headed by the time and an item off of Majella's list of things she likes or dislikes. I enjoyed the titles, finding most of them humorous and somehow a hint of what was to come within that section. It also made it easy to jump right back into the story each time I picked the book up.
"8.43 a.m. Item 3.7: Noise: Stuff smashing
It was the sound of a cup or a plate smashing that woke Majella."
We get to know the locals by their predictable visits to the chip shop every night, their stories weaving in with Majella's past. She relies on their repetition--even though she dreads most of the exchanges--taking notice when someone doesn't show up. It's in these small exchanges that Gallen shines, her characters fully realized and entertaining.
By the end of the book, I was rooting for Majella to find her way out of this repetitious life leading her down the same path as her mother. While all the questions aren't answered, I was still left satisfied, grasping on to the hint of optimistic hope the author provides. If you're a fan of quirky characters and glimpses into a day-in-the-life sort of story in a setting different than your own, I highly recommend Big Girl, Small Town.
*There is a glossary on the author's website michellegallen.com that I discovered after I'd finished the book.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for providing an advanced reader's copy.
Check out my review at A Book Wanderer
#popsugarreadingchallenge2021 (prompt #19-a book that discusses body positivity)
The reader gets to spend a week with Majella, a twenty-something girl who unknowingly falls somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Her life revolves around cleaning up after her alcoholic mother, binge-watching old episodes of Dallas, and working evenings frying up food at the local chip shop. But while her life appears ordinary at first, we slowly discover Majella grew up during the Troubles, her father has disappeared, and now her grandmother has died. She's doing her best to make it from day to day, but it's hard when she doesn't like change and doesn't like Other People.
The novel is broken down into days and then within each day is sections headed by the time and an item off of Majella's list of things she likes or dislikes. I enjoyed the titles, finding most of them humorous and somehow a hint of what was to come within that section. It also made it easy to jump right back into the story each time I picked the book up.
"8.43 a.m. Item 3.7: Noise: Stuff smashing
It was the sound of a cup or a plate smashing that woke Majella."
We get to know the locals by their predictable visits to the chip shop every night, their stories weaving in with Majella's past. She relies on their repetition--even though she dreads most of the exchanges--taking notice when someone doesn't show up. It's in these small exchanges that Gallen shines, her characters fully realized and entertaining.
By the end of the book, I was rooting for Majella to find her way out of this repetitious life leading her down the same path as her mother. While all the questions aren't answered, I was still left satisfied, grasping on to the hint of optimistic hope the author provides. If you're a fan of quirky characters and glimpses into a day-in-the-life sort of story in a setting different than your own, I highly recommend Big Girl, Small Town.
*There is a glossary on the author's website michellegallen.com that I discovered after I'd finished the book.
Thank you to Algonquin Books for providing an advanced reader's copy.
Check out my review at A Book Wanderer
#popsugarreadingchallenge2021 (prompt #19-a book that discusses body positivity)
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