Scenes of a Graphic Nature by Caroline O’Donoghue review – art, female collaboration and identity | The Guardian

A witty and insightful portrait of an aspiring film-maker is submerged in a plotty mysteryLike her debut, 2017’s Promising Young Women, Caroline O’Donoghue’s second novel has a young female protagonist; Charlie is an aspiring film-maker with Irish roots who, in trying to explore her dying father’s traumatic past, makes a truly terrible film. Along with her friend and co-creator Laura, Charlie sets out for Clipim, a fictional island off the west coast of Ireland where her father was the only survivor of an unspeakable tragedy in the 1960s. Something doesn’t add up about his story. Can the not-quite British, not-quite-Irish Charlie uncover the mystery, while finding a way to reconcile her confused identity? We are certainly going to find out.Charlie has never been to Ireland before. Her film is a litany of stereotypes, all shawls and staring out to sea, and she makes all the gaffes of a blow-in, including asking “if the IRA are here” in the local pub. Though being arrogant enough to make a film about a country you have never visited is within the plausible bounds of the imperialist script, it doesn’t quite ring true here, though the author tries her best to explain it. Continue reading…

A witty and insightful portrait of an aspiring film-maker is submerged in a plotty mystery

Like her debut, 2017’s Promising Young Women, Caroline O’Donoghue’s second novel has a young female protagonist; Charlie is an aspiring film-maker with Irish roots who, in trying to explore her dying father’s traumatic past, makes a truly terrible film. Along with her friend and co-creator Laura, Charlie sets out for Clipim, a fictional island off the west coast of Ireland where her father was the only survivor of an unspeakable tragedy in the 1960s. Something doesn’t add up about his story. Can the not-quite British, not-quite-Irish Charlie uncover the mystery, while finding a way to reconcile her confused identity? We are certainly going to find out.

Charlie has never been to Ireland before. Her film is a litany of stereotypes, all shawls and staring out to sea, and she makes all the gaffes of a blow-in, including asking “if the IRA are here” in the local pub. Though being arrogant enough to make a film about a country you have never visited is within the plausible bounds of the imperialist script, it doesn’t quite ring true here, though the author tries her best to explain it.

Continue reading…