Book Review

Wooden Womb Man – Elizabeth O’Neill

Amazon Synopsis

The Legg family are a nightmare, and it is only that good if you are part of it. Domestic violence, heavy drinking, junk food and cigarettes are the staples of everyday life and an unholy interest in eggs only adds a surreal twist to the misery Gregg Legg has to put up with. He has always been bullied and the bullying seems as though it will continue throughout his life, being only marginally better since he decided to marry Peggy Legg, who doesn’t let anyone bully her husband except herself. But now there is their son to think about and Gregg doesn’t want history to repeat itself. “Wooden Womb Man” is a surreal, darkly hilarious and often terrifying novel, which digs into the heart of an ASBO community and finds it to be as healthy as the ash from a packet of Kensitas Club. Set in Irvine, Elizabeth O’Neill writes in dialect and describes the horror of domestic abuse and its effects from a new and refreshing perspective, the darkness of the story leavened with some of the worst puns ever set in print.

My Thoughts

I read this novel on the plane to Ireland and struggled with it not because of the Scots dialect it is written in (which actually trips easily off the mind’s tongue after a few pages), nor with the subject matter which is bother horrifying and darkly humourous. The naming of characters in a running inside joke annoyed me greatly – I was constantly thrown out of the story by yet another intentional – and contrived – rhyme. Not a single character aroused my sympathies except perhaps the boy, but there is no focus on his development.

The end is as tragic as any I have read, though Peg’s journey is the most tragic of all, since it seems she learned nothing from it.

Although not to my taste I would recommend this book as a snapshot of life in the first decade of the twentieth century, much as I view Bill Naughton’s novels from the viewpoint of growing up in the sixties.

Many thanks to Anthony at Bluechrome for sending me a review copy.

Buy it Here