I haven't been so utterly besotted with a character as I was with Aisling in a very, very long time. I also think this audiobook may have broken some records on the number of times it made me snort laugh out loud with the endless Irish-isms, and the genuine hilarious earnestness of our dear Aisling.
It's no secret that I love/am fairly obsessed with any and everything Irish. I'm Canadian as can be, but my paternal grandmother has roots in Ireland (and shared many of the cultural perspectives that came up in this book for the country folk, it turns out), and my mother's grandmother had family from Northern Ireland, I think. Anyway, like I said, I'm Canadian af, and so are my parents and their parents, so I'm certainly not claiming citizenship here or something. But I do think some very old family traits and traditions have made it down the line to the things we still find ourselves doing today.
Additionally, many of my fond memories are due to a tiny, spritely Irish woman who was basically my nanny/daycare taker starting when I was just a baby. She was very kind, extremely comforting and lovable. She taught me how to swim in her backyard pool (oops sorry Mom and Dad, you missed that "first"), and took me on endless walks around town in a stroller. Shout out to dear Carmel; I hope you're looking down on me fondly, still rolling cigarettes by hand with that cool machine, while jubilantly singing "Yum yum pig's bum, cabbage and potatoes" to anyone under the age of 5 who's up there with you, god rest your souls.
Anyway. I've been lucky enough to visit Ireland three times now, and some years back I had a boyfriend who was from Dublin originally, which meant visiting his family at Christmas for a few weeks a couple of times. Obviously things didn't work out with that guy, but I fell hard for Ireland, and at this stage I have no intention of ending my ongoing love affair with the country (try all you like, COVID, but I'm going back to visit as soon as I'm allowed!)
My favourite writer is Irish (Tana French). My favourite bacon is Irish (rashers, actual Canadian bacon is truly nothing to brag about). My favourite instagram "influencers" are Irish (shout out to Melanie Murphy). And needless to say, some of my favourite accents are Irish as well. Really and truly, what made this book even more fabulous was listening to it on audiobook and getting all the slang with its proper intonation and the various characters' slightly different accents. Pure gold, I'm telling you.
Back to Aisling (pronounced "Ash-ling"). So Aisling is in her late twenties, working a respectable job at PensionsPlus in Dublin, though she's from the town of Ballygobbard in the country where she lives with her mother and father. She's been dating John, from a neighboring town, for only about a billion years, and he still hasn't proposed marriage to her even though all their friends from down home are already after tying the knot. Aisling is very punctual, drinks Coors Light, counts her weight watchers points, has a best friend, Majella who she goes out with every weekend, and is generally a lovely, sensible girl. She doesn't have any notions about her, and she just wants to get on with getting married and moving on with how life is supposed to go.
After a holiday to Tenerife ends up with John failing to propose, she cuts things off with him, and finds herself moving to Dublin to live with a friend from work, Sadhbh (pronounced "S-eye-v") and her roommate Elaine. Navigating things now with her future plans turned upside down has thrown her for a bit of a loop, and her father's health has been better as well. Life is a bit of a rollercoaster for dear Aisling as she finds herself trying new things and getting into various fiascos.
Ultimately, this was a light hearted, fun and laugh-out-loud read that really soothed my craving for Ireland in a time when the furthest travel I'm allowed is from my office desk to the couch, so I'm utterly grateful for it. The only downside is that although there are two more books in the series, neither one are on audiobook yet. Sure, a good book is still a good book, audio format or not, but truly I adored listening to Amy McCallister reading it to me! Whatever will I do with myself NOW!?
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