Apr 15 2008
Christine Falls
Author: Benjamin Black (aka John Banville)
ISBN: 9780330445320 DDC: 823.92
Book 1 in the Quirke series
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She was glad it was the evening mailboat she was taking, for she did not think she could have faced a morning departure.
Supposedly this is the first book in a series of crime novels by John Banville, writing as Benjamin Black, but to be honest there really isn’t that much crime in it. A few people being beaten up, some documents being faked, but it is a long way from the murder-thriller that readers may be expecting.
Christine Falls is set in 1950’s Ireland, so right away you know to expect the Catholic Church to be the “ebil authority” for our protagonist(pathologist Quirke) to rail against. And we even have the nun-run “laundries” for unmarried mothers and the whisking away of babies to the United States of America.
Tags: 6 Stars, 823.92, adoption, Benjamin Black, Christine Falls, detective, Ireland - 1950s, Ireland - church, Irish Americans, John Banville, Quirke, series