I don’t know how most people read books, but as a parent, a lot of my reading is the equivalent of sneaking a comic between the pages of a textbook to fool the teacher.
Would I like to be sitting on the front porch of a lonely cabin in the mountains, hot tea steaming on the table beside me, while I read books as meticulously-researched and beautifully written as Say Nothing? Absolutely.
Did I read Say Nothing bent double, the book half-hidden under my daughter’s bed, one hand holding open the book, the other draped over her stomach (because that’s the only way in which she will fall asleep)? Absolutely.
But contrary to many of the non-fiction books I read this way, Say Nothing drew me into the drama so intensely that I found myself maintaining my bent-double position long after my girl’s breath had pitched into its sleeping rhythm.
Keefe has blessed himself with a highly compelling, and recent, event, that of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, but in the hands of a lesser writer, the story could have been a simple recitation of events, or, worse, a dehumanizing one, in which the war was fought between “sides” or “factions” instead of real human beings, with spouses and children.
By centering the story on the abduction and disappearance of Jean McConville, single mother of ten, Keefe yanks us into history and doesn’t let up. While he turns our gaze to other players, or widens the view so that we can better understand the politics, he never forgets McConville. The story also ends with a twist, as Keefe brings it back to his own experience as an Irish-American.
It has become cliche for reviewers to write that a book kept them up all night or is unputdownable, so I will modify this. Say Nothing will keep you bent double, long after you’re allowed to straighten up.
Published by Anchor Books (2019)