POPULAR FICTION: It Must Be Love, By Sharon Owens, Poolbeg, 324pp. €17.99and The Matchmaker, By Marita Conlon-McKenna, Bantam, 380pp. £10.99The storyline of Sharon Owens's fifth novel, It Must Be Love, has a runaway bride-to-be as its starting point. The reader is then taken on a romp through London, the west of Ireland, New York and back again to the village in the west, writes Rose Doyle.
Owens knows how to spin a yarn and in nicely paced style gives nuance to stock characters; the older, castle-owning Scottish groom-to-be has New Man touches to him, there's an astute look at the interaction between two generations of women and a general understanding of the needs of women and men - whatever their age. The narrative fairly trots along, though less explaining and more suspense would tighten things up and a tendency to use brackets is distracting.
Marita Conlon-McKenna long ago earned her place in the ranks of accomplished writers. The theme of her new novel, The Matchmaker, will give readers pause for thought about the same subject's treatment at the hands of an earlier accomplished writer. Kicking off a story about Dublin mother Maggie Ryan's determination to marry off her daughters, Conlon-McKenna gives a direct nod to Jane Austen. Thereafter, sticking with her theme, she spins a lively tale of contemporary love and marriage.
It's not easy but our widowed, middle-class and living in near-idyllic Pleasant Square protagonist sticks with it until, in the end, everyone, but everyone, gets her man. Caught up in the disasters, joys and tribulations which make up the fabric of Conlon-McKenna's story is a cast which includes Polish immigrants, gay men, the lone elderly, single parents, competitive academics/professionals and, for them all, more than enough love to go round. All human life, in fact, comprehensively accounted for.
Rose Doyle is a journalist and author. Her most recent book is the non-fiction Heroes of Jadotville: The Soldiers' Story (New Island, 2007)