"Juno and Legs," by Karl Geary: Little People of Dublin
By Didier Jacob
Published on
Karl Geary. DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
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Review: The chronicle of a childhood tortured by poverty, where a mother and her daughter form a team that almost never wins. A beautiful social and poetic novel. ★★★★☆
A woman in Dublin in the 1980s. She earns a meager living doing odd sewing jobs for local families. At home, Juno, her rebellious teenage daughter, tries to survive in the filth of their slum. In this chronicle of a childhood tortured by poverty, mother and daughter form a team that almost never wins. At school, Juno consoles herself with the slaps inflicted on the most recalcitrant in the Catholic school she attends, with Legs, whose name is Sean but whom she renamed because of his long legs. Juno and Legs take revenge for the abuse they suffer by blocking the school toilets with cement. They get up to mischief, and Karl Geary gracefully recounts this relationship battered by fate. "Juno and Legs" is a beautiful social and poetic novel reminiscent of Douglas Stuart's excellent "Shuggie Bain."
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