Popular Fiction: In her recent work, author Rose Doyle has plunged into the historical fiction genre, shedding light on episodes in Ireland's past that have not always reflected glory upon the country, writes Christine Madden
Friends Indeed examined the phenomenon of the Wrens in the Curragh in the 19th century, female outcasts in the bigoted society of the time, which was unforgiving of any deviance from the stifling norm. Fate and Tomorrow compared colonial attitudes in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century with those in the Congo.
Fate figures again in this latest novel, Gambling With Darkness, as well as malignant, creeping hatred allowed to fester for generations. The scene: Dublin in autumn, 1944. As the Allies close in on Nazi Germany, Ireland's recent history and wartime neutrality have curdled society into various groups, supporting different sides of the war for differing political reasons.
At her first dissection, Honor Cusack, a young medical student from Waterford, takes an immediate interest in the lab assistant, Dr Oscar Raeder. As a pacifist opposed to the Nazis, he left Germany in order to train as a doctor and be ready to help his country rebuild itself.
An unidentified female corpse is discovered in the body tank. It turns out to be that of a prostitute and "good friend" of a German spy. In this wartime atmosphere, suspicion instantly fixes on Oscar and the situation is not helped by the fact that Oscar's fanatically fascist brother, Stefan, was a German spy caught and incarcerated in Ireland.
Doyle slowly teases out the circumstances and consequences of Honor's tumultuous relationship with Oscar, which is poisoned further by her irritating home life and the murky, devious characters associated with it, to a climax of violence and nemesis. The narrative is at times a bit forced; however, Doyle demonstrates a dissector's skill in constructing and portraying character and holding up cliched prejudice to scrutiny and ridicule. She cleverly combines stereotypes with more complex figures to expose the injustice of assuming things about people because it is comfortable and convenient. In the case of prejudices against Germans (which still exist today), she indicates how unfair and uninformed they are in her characterisation of Sgt Healey in Honor's hometown of Cloclia who, in victimising Oscar, continually insists: "I'm just following orders."
It's a treat to encounter popular fiction with acumen and a cheeky sense of justice.
Christine Madden is a journalist and critic
Gambling With Darkness. By Rose Doyle, Hodder and Stoughton, 346pp. £18.99