This was one of the best reads for me of last year: it was a real love story and also a fascinating insight into 1970s Northern Ireland and the Troubles: I think her writing is so classy and although it's quite slow, I think that was a good thing. It was also really sad. Highly recommend.

Set in Ireland during the troubles. A topic I'm very intrigued by and this was really well done. Not an easy read with a lot of grief and violence. But very well written and definitely worth it.

I read this book as it was deservedly nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction.
Having previously known little about life in Northern Ireland around this time I found it both moving and informational. A great novel!

Beautifully written, masterfully crafted characters, hard to believe this was a debut novel! Kennedy’s writing style really lends itself to the story being told and elevated sections that focused on the more mundane aspects of Culsha’s life.

Take a young teacher, living with an alcoholic widowed mother, helping her brother to run the family pub in her space time , in between looking out for her young charges at school.... and who finds herself drawn into an affair with a married man.
And then set that in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles. What a combination.

A devastating, yet addictive novel based in 1970’s Northern Ireland during the height of The Troubles.
From the first pages you can feel an undertone, and feel that the climax will be some kind of heartbreaking catastrophic event for the main characters, yet you are totally compelled to read on. That to me is proof that Louise Kennedy is an amazing writer.
Trespasses is a beautiful portrayal of Cushla and Michael’s meeting and doomed ‘secret’ romance.
This would be a great book for someone who is interested in the social and daily lives of those who lived amongst the sectarian divisions and violence in Belfast.

A winding tale of life in Troubles-era Belfast, Trespasses offers an intimate image of an affair across political divides and it's fallout. Concerned at it's core with love, our choices, and the grey areas of morality in which life is lived, this book is in turns gut wrenching and painfully familiar. A loving yet stark portrayal of family life, addiction, and the complexities of relationships that could at any point be tainted by sectarian violence and prejudice, this book is a solid read for anyone with an interest in the day to day lives of those living in the shadow of the Troubles.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for access to this ARC.

An interesting and worryingly honest portrayal of life in Northern Ireland of a young catholic teacher (Cushla) starting an affair with an older Protestant man who asks her to give him and his friends lessons as Gaeilge.
The resulting love affair causes tensions at her home, and within the divided community. Although it is ‘secret’, people know.
The real life portrayal of a divided community trying to a avoid conflict,, whilst others plan attacks on the opposing ‘side’ is palpable in this slow moving, yet deep story.
Thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

A solid story of life in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. It would be an accessible entry point for someone who doesn't know very much about the war in Northern Ireland. It also highlights how issues of class and poverty were heightened along sectarian lines in way that was not experienced, apart, perhaps, in Glasgow, in any other part of Ireland or the UK at the time. Would potentially be interesting to readers of Shuggie Bain who were interested in the cultural and social textures of that book.