A Swift Pure Cry

Starred review from March 19, 2007
This debut from an Irish writer opens with an epigraph from Joyce's Ulysses
, setting a high standard that Dowd meets. Set in southern Ireland in 1984 and loosely based on an unsolved crime that rocked the nation, the story begins after the death of Moira Talent, wife of Joe and mother of Shell (short for Michelle), Trix and Jimmy. Joe Talent has buried his grief in a bottle, leaving 15-year-old Shell to run the household. Her father becomes pious after his wife's death, but Shell loses her faith—until young Father Rose joins the parish. She deflects her crush on the priest by taking up with smooth-talking classmate Declan, who gets her pregnant but leaves for America before he knows he's going to be a father. The residents of her claustrophobic rural community avert their eyes as Shell's shape changes, but cannot deny the tragedy that follows. At this point, the tenor of the novel smoothly and inexorably changes from an introspective examination of grief and loss, to a mystery with a thriller's momentum. Dowd's empathy for her characters extends even to Shell's father, a man with "a black shrivelled walnut for a heart." It is no small feat to write a story so heavy with foreboding and both deliver on the palpable sense of dread and concoct a hopeful yet realistic ending. Dowd achieves this in her beautifully realized account of one girl's loss of innocence, and her resilient recovery. Ages 14-up.

March 23, 2009
This novel is set in the small Irish village of Coolbar, where Shell Talent is the neglected daughter of the town drunk. She finds some solace in her secret relationship with Declan, the local altar boy, and in her renewed faith, inspired by the charismatic Father Rose. Then she becomes pregnant. The villagers wonder if her father went too far one night, missing Shell's dead mother. Or was it that new priest? Her daughter is stillborn, but the body of a baby boy who breathed life is also found, and suddenly Shell is facing twin infanticide charges. Why It Is for Us: This is the first of three books by Dowd, now deceased. Each marries a strong sense of place and time with a compelling story. The characters are memorable, almost Joycean, and the dialog flows naturally. By the end of this work, readers will feel they have lived in Coolbar for years. [Originally published in 2007.]

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2007
Everythings been wrong since 15-year-old Shells Mam died. Her father forces his kids to say the rosary and then gets drunk. They live from money he skims off donations he collects for the church. Shell is left to take care of her younger brother and sister in their Irish village; her only joy comes in stolen moments with a local lad. Then her guy goes off to America, and though Shell pretends otherwise, she is pregnant. In a scene both graphic and horrific, Shell delivers a stillborn baby girl. The novel could have gone several ways, but perhaps because it is based on a true story, its path is unexpected. A dead baby is found, and the authorities, thinking it is Shells, accuse her of murder. Moreover, the authorities suspect her own dad is the babys father. Or perhaps the babys father is the new priest. The words pure and cry in the title are apt, for this novel has a lyrical purity to it, and its cry is from the heart. Dowd evokes her setting impressively, and she realizes her characters with a sensitivity that is, at times, breathtaking. Not always easy to read, but well worth it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

April 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-A poignant tale, set in Ireland in 1984. When her mother dies, 15-year-old Shell Talent becomes trapped in a depressing life with her pious, but alcoholic father. Having given up his job to devote his life to the Lord, he leaves Shell and her younger siblings with no real means to support themselves. Longing to escape this cycle of poverty, Shell pins her hopes and dreams on visions of their new priest, Father Rose, as Jesus Christ come back to Earth. These dreams soon come to a crashing end as Shell turns to a schoolmate for solace. Trapped in a pregnancy that results from this relationship, she must make a decision that could mean life or death for the new life she carries. As Shell struggles to bring her child into her world unnoticed, Dowd drives home her message of the hopelessness of the situation through clear, concise, yet powerful language. Readers are introduced to an amazing young woman who, despite all odds, finds the strength to overcome a growing scandal that has the potential to disrupt the peaceful order of her small church and town."Caryl Soriano, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.