The Blackwater Lightship ~ by Colm Tóibín

Title, author, date of book, and genre?
The Blackwater Lightship ~ by Colm Tóibín, 1999, fiction

What made you want to read this book?
Strange as it sounds, I wanted to read anything by the man who wrote in the book-lined cave pictured on my writing blog. Before running across a photo of a perfect writer's room, I had never heard of Colm Tóibín.

Summarize the book without giving away the ending.
It is Ireland in the early 1990s. Helen, her mother Lily, and her grandmother Dora come together to tend to Helen's brother, Declan, who is dying of AIDS. On the surface, The Blackwater Lightship is the story of a man dying of AIDS who makes the decision to reveal his homosexuality and his disease to his family and to seek their help.

What did you think of the characters? Did you think problems were believable?
The story is told from the point of view of Helen, sister of the dying Declan. In the opening pages Helen appears to be happily married with two small sons, going through her life's calm routines: tending to her children's nightmares, throwing a dinner party with her husband, taking care of her duties as a schoolteacher and administrator. Then Declan's friend Paul arrives, bringing together a family torn apart by years of resentment and mistrust. Helen bitterly hates both her mother and her grandmother, so much so that she chose not to invite them to her wedding or inform them of the births of her children. The theme of homosexuality, along with the ravages of AIDS, serves as a metaphor for the anger and mistrust that had been destroying the family for years. Helen, her mother, and her mother in turn are cold, distant women, but we begin to see why each is suspicious of the others.

What did you like about the book?
This novel works on two levels: Declan's coming to terms with his fatal illness; and the illumination in brief flashes (like the lighthouse of its title) of Helen and Declan's tortured family ties.

What do you think will be your lasting impression of this book?
The cold, bleak shore of the sea where Declan chooses to spend his last days, there in his grandmother's home ... and the coldness of the family toward each other.

How would you rate this book?
Rated: 8/10, very good book