Former Limerick teacher Susan Newman publishes first novel

SUSAN Newman, recently retired teacher of English at Crescent College Comprehensive, has just published her first novel, Silent Lives.

Susan lives in Dooradoyle and formerly in Adare, in Limerick is the mother of four grown-up children; Thomas and Hugo who live in Spain, her daughter, Susie, who lives in Cambridge and another son, Adam who lives in Adare.

Set in Co. Cork in the late 60s it’s a detective story which focuses on the murder of two local women and, though the subject matter is dark, the story never descends into one of unrelenting sadness. Throughout there are sparkles of humour, provided by the idiosyncratic personalities and cavalier lifestyles of the locals and the unwelcome attentions of the Serious Crime squad from Cork.

Susan was born in Co. Cork and it is obvious, both from her descriptions of the landscape and her portrayal of the characters, that she has a keen eye for detail.

Character reactions to the sudden upheaval in their village are, at times, peculiar but there is an over-riding desire to have their life back to what passes as normality, as soon as possible. .

But some of the people are very aware of the shortcomings in their midst and a light is shone on the hierarchy within that small enclave. There is a strict status quo, presided over by those who will brook no change in their status and are appalled by the twin spectacle of, on the one hand being seen as suspects and on the other the fear that the whole edifice of their contrived superiority is in danger of crumbling.

The title of the book pays tribute to the ‘little people’, who, for the most part, didn’t feature in any significant way and whose voices were unheard and often disregarded. But, ironically, it is one such ‘voice’ who helps to unlock the mystery surrounding the deaths of the two women and who is given his five minutes in the sun towards the end of the novel.

Silent Lives is available to buy in O’ Mahoney’s Booksellers, Crescent Bookshop and on Amazon.