My Travels with Footsbarn Theatre, A Memoir by Ted Turton (Liffey Press, €22.95)
To describe Footsbarn as an experimental theatre company is to understate. In this circus-like group, children accompany their actor parents, babies are born on the road, and an endless cycle of romances blossom and wither. Wacky adventures across Europe, USA and Australia in the “freewheeling” 1980s fill this memoir. Of course, communities on the fringes encounter others on the fringes – the Gypsies, shepherds and First Nations communities who shared in Footsbarn’s journey add further colour. The strongest element of this lively book is the author’s artwork – in particular the posters Turton created for the theatre company – otherwise, this memoir will find its appeal with those curious about the footloose adventures of the travelling group.
Natalja’s Stories by Inger Christensen, tr. Denise Newman (Penguin Classics, £10.99)
This fable-like novella, written by one of Denmark’s most revered writers (now deceased), reads like a play in seven acts. “Natalja’s story about destiny”, is the first chapter title; “Natalja’s story about keeping your mouth shut”, the penultimate. In each chapter, the lives of three women, Natalja, her mother and grandmother (who shares the same name) are told and retold in what becomes a surrealist exploration of fate, memory and the shifting contours of language. Along the way, a murder, a cat named Mirage, a mystical mirror, ashes held in a Chinese crock-pot, and a mysterious man who seduces all three generations of women. Natalja’s Stories, first published in Denmark in 1988, is for readers who are comfortable in the enigmatic arena of literature and life.
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Barren by Byddi Lee (Seanchai, £12.99)
At the beginning of this novel, our narrator is in utero. From here, Poppy, the seed who never sprouted life in the mortal world, connects two women who have been affected by infertility. Zosime, in Neolithic Ireland, and Aisling, an Irish emigrant living in contemporary California, have become engulfed by loss, loneliness and longing. Their stories are shared concurrently in a novel where the spiritual and physical realms blur. Finding meaning in their loss consumes both Zosime and Aisling. Thus, the more mystical and magical elements of the novel feel appropriate to convey feeling where logic falls short. However, it is the emotional integrity of that narrative that is its true strength. Barren is an enlightening read in which pain and hope speak with equal power.
