A Ghost in the Throat

When I first picked up A Ghost in the Throat at Recluse Books in Fort Worth during my visit to spend my Bestie’s birthday with her, I knew I’d love it. I definitely didn’t intend to let it sit on the shelf for the last two months, but sometimes life can be funny that way, no? Now that I’ve picked it up, though, I simply cannot put it down.

First Line (+ a smidge more)

THIS IS A FEMALE TEXT.

This is a female text, composed while folding someone else’s clothes. My mind holds it close, and it grows, tender and slow, while my hands perform innumerable chores.

Friday 56

I never remember falling asleep in my sad room, but every time I do, I am woken by the cries of infants who aren’t mine.

From the anpost Top 20 Irish Books AwardIt:

In this stunningly unusual prose debut, Doireann Ní Ghríofa sculpts essay and autofiction to explore inner life and the deep connection felt between two writers centuries apart. In the 1700s, an Irish noblewoman, on discovering her husband has been murdered, drinks handfuls of his blood and composes an extraordinary poem. In the present day, a young mother narrowly avoids tragedy. On encountering the poem, she becomes obsessed with its parallels with her own life, and sets out to track down the rest of the story. A devastating and timeless tale about one woman freeing her voice by reaching into the past and finding another’s.

It’s not often that I annotate books, but I think I may have to invest in some new flags because the amount of dog ears happening is already ridiculous and I’m not quite half way through this gorgeous text.

Have you read A Ghost in the Throat? What are you reading these days?

Linking up this weekend to Book Beginnings with Gilion, The Friday 56 with Anne, and the Sunday Salon with Deb. Have a look around to see what everyone else is reading these days.

Onward,

Melissa