A truck driver travels with a secret passenger on a journey through love, memory and grief in Conor O'Callaghan's latest novel.
There is still romance in the idea of the open road – indeed the desire for freedom, to fill a tank with fuel and just head off is more acute than ever at this time when we have all been told, in no uncertain terms, to stay at home.
At the beginning of this book, Paddy, or Pat – most of the characters here have several names, or no names at all – has taken charge of a haulage lorry and is preparing, despite his lack of experience, to drive it from England to France.
It's a time just before Brexit, and worry about border changes flicker at the corner of this story, but Paddy himself has a lot more than politics to worry about. His troubled daughter has hitched a ride in his cab, he is struggling with the end of an unconventional love affair, and his relationship with his only brother is scarred by memories of his mother and tension over the sale of the family home.
It's a lot for one man to deal with, and memories and emotions fill the cab as he drives across country, trying to avoid mandated rest stops and literally put space between himself and his difficulties, a process that is of course far from easy.
The 272-page story is populated by sparsely drawn yet incredibly vivid characters including Carl, who is supervising the driving. Also part of the saga are Paddy’s late mother Kitty and his brother, who for a long time is merely an initial on a text message but comes alive whenever he is brought into the story.
Ironically the one character who gets her own distinct section of the story, Paddy's former lover is, for me, the weakest character and I found it difficult to understand why she was drawn to this man in such an intense way.
But the beating heart of the novel and what drives its narrative is Paddy's daughter who is, on the surface a defiant, tattooed self -confident young woman but, it soon becomes clear has been battling demons of her own.
Conor O’Callaghan is a very accomplished writer with a poetic, mesmeric style that is utterly his own. I found it hard to warm to some of his literary flourishes, including the use of unfinished sentences. However, for the most part the writing is lyrical and utterly convincing and although I found certain elements of the plot predictable, the various strands come together beautifully at the end.
This is an accomplished, observant and moving book which explores the notion that extremes of emotion including grief and, indeed, love, can only be experienced alone.
