Lyrical and powerful - 5 star

An ordinary life, an enclosed life, a life of servitude to family, to church, a life of questionable morals, repressed sexuality, guilt, abuse that is The Dark by renowned Irish author John McGahern. Mahoney the father rules with a rod of iron, and a belt of leather the story is told through the eyes of the eldest son in a harsh rural landscape where the only real arbiter is the Catholic church…..” In fear and shame you are moving to the death of having to describe the real face of your life to your God in his priest, and to beg forgiveness, and promise for there is still time.”.........” A priest could have no anguish, he’d given up happiness, his fixed life moving in the calm of certainty into its end, cursed by no earthly love or longing, all had been chosen years before”..... Lyrical, breathtaking, disturbing the story remains with you long after the final page. Highly recommended.