The Alternatives

Caoilinn Hughes is touted as a major new literary voice and from the very first page of reading The Alternatives it is apparent as to why. Her prose is exciting and original and while I don’t usually like to compare novels, I was dazzled and absorbed by this book in the same way I was reading Paul Murray’s The Bee Sting.

One might say this is a contemporary fairytale, the story of four Irish sisters orphaned in their youth after their parents died in tragic circumstances and Olwen, the eldest, is forced to take charge. However, the novel is firmly set in the present and as adults the sisters lead separate, distant lives. Worlds apart, each is brilliant in their chosen field – with PhDs in philosophy, geology, culinary arts, and political science – and each is uniquely eccentric. The sisters are forced to reconnect after Olwen unexpectedly vanishes from her home. It becomes clear that this is of Olwen’s own accord, with the circumstances echoing the past and for the first time in years all four sisters, one with a baby, end up together in an isolated rural shack on the Irish coast.

What ensues is a deep dive into the mechanics of a dysfunctional family, yet also so much more. Hughes delicately weaves their past and present battles with trauma, addiction, climate anxiety, capitalism and connection into a beautiful, slow burn character-driven tale that is sometimes heartbreaking and often poignant, while also being ever so funny and ultimately optimistic.

And for all that this novel tackles and achieves, from global conundrums to its writing feats, in the end the highlight is the simple familiar dynamics and interplay between the four sisters and the delightful influence of the enigmatic baby Leo. My head was spinning reading The Alternatives, in all the best ways.