Book Review: “Evenings and Weekends” by Oisín McKenna
This is probably one of my favorite books I’ve ever read. If I had a nickel for every time I read a book written by an Irish author following multigenerational characters during a heatwave in London, I’d have two nickels! It isn’t a lot, but weird that it’s happened twice, right? The other aforementioned book is Instructions for a Heatwave, which I reviewed on the blog, and also truly loved.
Evenings and Weekends follows multiple characters, most of which are intertwined through familial or friendship ties, during a heatwave in London. I would say the main characters are Phil, Ed, Maggie, and Rosaleen, but there are many secondary and even tertiary characters who get their own dedicated sections within a chapter, or whole chapters themselves. The heatwave is this kind of unspoken character, underscoring the intense emotional and sexual tension that is the heartbeat of the story. Even though this book doesn’t solely follow people in their 20s, I think it perfectly encapsulates the 20s headspace of everything feeling permanent, everything feeling everchanging and nothing feeling promised simultaneously. It beautifully captures the weird liminal space of not feeling like a child in your 20s but also not feeling like an adult. It discusses grief and motherhood, the complexity of love and relationships, the hardships around wanting to follow dreams vs being practical etc. in really vulnerable and relatable ways. I truly think this book is one about bravery; about doing the scary thing, no matter how terrifying it is, because it’s true to who you are and what you want.
Between this book and Instructions for a Heatwave, I’ve gotten some very good insight on the dynamics between the Irish and the British. I think lately, there’s been a more public movement of Irish people reclaiming their heritage, which I love, and it’s been interesting to learn more about the strained relationship between Irish and British people because of colonial history. I might go on a deep dive on the topic, because I found it so poignant to read about how, specifically, Rosaleen’s character viewed herself and her life choices as a middle-aged Irish woman who grew up in a time when being Irish was heavily and publicly demonized by everyone, including the Irish themselves. This book also made me wish I knew more about British politics so I could better understand some of the implications and jokes made about political parties in the books.
Every character in this novel goes on their own journey; about acceptance or stepping out of the closet (literally and emotionally) or taking the jump or being honest with themselves or others. This book is insanely funny, deeply moving and I truly cannot recommend it enough. I’m excited to circle back and reread it later this year to see how my feelings around certain characters evolve after some distance. I think Irish authors have become a new favorite niche of mine!
