I nearly didn't read this, as the first few pages seemed heavy, and I didn't feel in the mood for a book about a lonely old man who seems to have had enough of life. I would certainly have read something else if I had another fiction book to hand, but I didn't, so I was almost forced to give it a go as I don't like to go a day without reading. As it turned out, it was heavy, and as with so many novels set in Ireland, there were plenty of instances of harm caused by the Catholic church that were covered up and ignored until people simply accepted that it was part of their lives. Sometimes I wonder why the Catholic church was not drummed out of Ireland years ago after all the revelations of abuse that have come to light in recent years. The institutions such as orphanages and laundries must have affected almost every member of the population in some form or another, and yet no one felt they had the power to stop it. Physical and sexual abuse of vulnerable chi...