‘An honest, heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and the bravery to face your demons.‘
– Assembling Ailish
[ About Assembling Ailish ]
Ailish McCarthy is not doing well. Outwardly successful – career, beautiful home, wealthy husband, two daughters reared and on the cusp of their own lives– inwardly she is crumbling.
Her relationship with her mother was complicated and difficult, the grief following her death unnaturally prolonged. As much as she wants to move forward, Ailish is caught in a spiral with her ghosts.
In order to escape them, she must resolve her past. Revisit it. Construct again, from memory, the family and friends who shaped her, the boy she could not forget, the changing Ireland which provided the backdrop for their lives.
Under the guidance of her therapist, Ailish begins the process of examining her previous selves: anxious child, traumatized teenager, adult woman riven with a never-to-be-shared secret. From these uniquely broken shards, can she assemble a present self, a whole self, one she can live with?
[ My Review ]
Assembling Ailish by Sharon Guard published February 4th with Poolbeg Press and has been rightfully described by Donal Ryan as ‘a beautiful and important novel, an incisive, insightful study of childhood, motherhood, obligation, guilt, and the impossibility of true freedom from the circular pain of existence, but all lit by a blaze of love and hope’ .
I really had no idea what to expect when I turned the first page of Assembling Ailish and, after the initial few chapters, I still was unsure but then suddenly it happened, I heard Ailish’s voice, I could feel her pain and anguish, I was committed.
Ailish McCarthy has all the appearances of someone who has it all. Originally from a rural background, Ailish always struggled with her relationship with her mother. Growing up Ailish became used to her mother’s moods but at some point over the years, the atmosphere grew progressively worse and the tension in the home left a permanently dysfunctional dynamic.
Now married with two daughters of her own, a successful career, a beautiful home and an affluent lifestyle, Ailish, on paper, is happy. She is always groomed to perfection. She mixes in the correct circles. Her husband is highly recognised as a wealthy and prosperous individual. They attend dinner parties. They have extraordinary views over the coastline from their stunning Dublin home.
‘I’ve never been much of a joiner, but the book-clubbers are a homogenous group. All eight of us, though varying mildly in shape and hair colour and size, look a lot like me. We wear Tommy Hilfiger jeans and Carl Scarpa boots, preppy Ralph Lauren jumpers. Our children go to the same private schools, our husbands are employed in solid professions: barristers, solicitors, bankers, accountants, one dentist. We holiday three or four times a year, ski and sun sojourns mandatory, romantic mini-breaks to keep our marriages kicking.’
But Ailish is in therapy slowly revealing her secrets and learning to process her past and her future.
As we journey alongside Ailish we get insights into the internal struggles she faces and how each day has become a challenge. Riddled with guilt, Ailish is incapable of offering herself any kind of relief or peace. She is a traumatised middle-aged woman who is stuck in her past and finding it so very difficult to move on.
‘The thought of a Friday-night glass pulls me through the week, a normal week, but since we moved to a cramped rental to facilitate the builders and the extension, I feel a Thursday night glass is justified, Wednesday is optional, and sure who is going to judge a woman for oiling a lonely Tuesday night watching Desperate Housewives with a sip or two of Pinot Grigio?’
Sharon Guard has written the most extraordinary debut. Her handling of sensitive issues is masterfully written with heart-breaking and devastating scenes laid bare before us. When Ailish becomes locked in that sandwich generation, her experiences will resonate with so many readers as she attempts to deal with her elderly parents and her own family. It is a moment that will stop most readers in their tracks.
‘I’ve nothing left in any tank’
Crossing decades Assembling Ailish delves into the contemporary issues of each period of time, expertly exploring themes that are relevant to the social and cultural landscape of that time, capturing the spirit of an Ireland over the years. It is a novel that evokes a mix of emotions with flawed characters that we can all connect with in some way or another. I described Cathy Sweeney’s debut, Breakdown, as a compelling and challenging read and Assembling Ailish falls into the same category. Quite similar in that they both deal with women trying to assimilate how their lives played out, women who appear to be in the perfect place but their reality tells a very different story.
Skillfully executed Assembling Ailish is a visceral tale, one that draws the reader into every emotional pain that Ailish is experiencing. Intimate and vulnerable, Assembling Ailish is a stunning debut. Sharon Guard is an exceptional storyteller, a talented writer with a true gift for the written word.
*Thank you Poolbeg Press for a copy of Assembling Ailish in exchange for my honest review
[ Bio ]
SHARON GUARD grew up in, and still lives in, Dublin. She has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of Limerick. Her work has appeared in New Irish Writing, SWERVE magazine, The Ogham Stone and the Washing Windows anthologies. She won the Molly Keane Creative Writing Award in 2020 and her story Artifice was shortlisted for the RTÉ Short Story Competition 2024.
Her debut novel, Assembling Ailish, is published by Poolbeg Press.
This sounds like a confident debut. Immediately I thought of Cathy Sweeney’s Breakdown, which I loved. Similar themes emerge in Deborah Levy’s work. It sounds like Guard’s book is about re-assembling a very fractured individual!
Very much so Lucy. If you loved Breakdown, I think you’ll also love meeting Ailish.