The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway
Thirty years ago, Tony, Hugh, and Karen believed they had seen the last of one another. The memories were buried after half a lifetime. However, each of them has their own justifications for agreeing to get together when requested to do so in order to put ghosts to rest for the sake of the future. The past is horribly brought into focus as they go by ferry from Northern Ireland to Scotland; some things are impossible to leave behind.
The Last Crossing by Brian McGilloway
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This book is about three former IRA members who have been given orders to find bodies they buried in Scotland thirty years ago when they were still paramilitaries. Tony, Hugh, and Karen are them. Two of them have moved on with their lives; Tony is currently a highly regarded teacher who belongs to the middle class. He has moved past his past. He was a teenager when the Troubles began in the 1970s and the early 1980s, and his politicization resulted from poverty and a lack of human rights.
The action alternates between Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as the ferry ride there and back. The story revolves around one of the “disappeared” from the upheavals of the 1970s, and the author simply switches between that time and the present by using the end of one chapter as the beginning of the next.
The novel advances at a fair old trot because each chapter is brief and quick-paced, which is ideal for this reader. Additionally, as the plot develops, you gain a greater understanding of the motivations of each of the story’s main characters. Love, greed, hate, a desire for power, and the need to survive all have a part to play. Nobody ultimately comes out of it nicely.
The plot of “The Last Crossing” is so well-written, and the characters are all so captivating. An honest account of love, faith, and—most importantly—how, despite our outward differences, we are all fundamentally the same. It paints a very realistic image of how individuals can become embroiled in conflict and how that conflict can affect them for the rest of their life. It can demonstrate how all of the emotions that have been suppressed erupt when faced with the terrible repercussions of their actions 30 years later.
A gifted wordsmith and a master storyteller, Brian McGilloway. His characters are flawed, three-dimensional, and capable of displaying both tremendous savagery and strange glimmers of humanity.
Although the subject matter will never make for an enjoyable read, this book is nonetheless significant and gratifying. You will acquire a lot of insight into what motivates people to use violence and murder against others, which will make you wonder how you would react in similar situations.
