This book took me by surprise, in a number of ways. I hadn’t known about its impending publication, mostly because I still had Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show on my to-read list. When I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an advance reader’s copy, I figured it would be another languid, bucolic yarn in the tradition of Delaney’s other books. Which it sort of was, in that it has the same undeniable Irish storyteller feel to it. However, Delaney has outdone himself this time, as I finally enjoyed the myth of the characters as much as the myth of the setting this time around.
This book is, more or less, a direct sequel to Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show. It picks up with Ben MacCarthy traveling Ireland, gathering stories for the Folklore Commission and dodging painful memories of his missing wife. As part of his travels, he visits Kate Begley, the titular matchmaker, thinking only to collect some observations on rural matchmaking traditions. He discovers Kate to be a force of nature, and is immediately drawn into a close friendship with her. Their odd platonic companionship becomes even more tightly wound as Kate suddenly meets the great love of her life, American soldier Charles Miller. Kate finagles a way to catch him that drags Ben off into the WWII battlefields of France, where their only protection is the professed wartime neutrality of Ireland. When Miller inexplicably disappears, Kate’s determination to find him has far-reaching consequences, not the least of which is the effect on Ben. Trapped by grief for his wife and unsure of his feelings for Kate, he nonetheless continues to escort Kate on her foolhardy quest, and has ample opportunity to reflect on what "neutrality" really means, both physically and emotionally.
So, in the beginning, I felt like I should have read Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show first. Ben serves as the story’s narrator, and thus his backstory from the previous book is referred to rather than explained, creating a few moments of disorientation in the beginning. However, once I became familiar with Ben, I appreciated the symmetry that came with him being as mysterious to me as Kate- especially later in the book, when their analogous searches for the possibly-dead become entwined. Despite my initial wariness, I found this novel to work quite well as a standalone.
And what a standalone it is. Delaney, always a favorite author of mine, finally got it completely right this time around. This book has all of the strengths of his signature style. The settings are rich and easily visualized. The characters fit into archetypes that are very familiar to those who have read Delaney before, but are still delightfully quirky and real. I also found myself enjoying the bits of absurdity that should, by all rights, be bugging the hell out of me. Kate Begley is an infuriating character most of the time, but a blend of the odd (homilies at inappropriate times) and the profound (unshakeable conviction masking insecurity and naiveté) in her characterization make it impossible not to be invested in her. The same can be said for the story in general. For example, the book begins with a factoid about giraffes, which proves important later, when Ben and Kate end up meeting one. Seriously. Most readers would wonder how something like that could possibly work in a story that is already a mishmash of meet-cute, family memoir, and war story, but somehow, it does work. These bizarre asides just enriched the tale for me; they imparted a sense of the epic, like the unlikely details slipped into a genuine folk tale. Considering the author’s usual pattern, and the distinctly Irish bittersweetness of the book's ending, I’m sure this was Delaney’s intent.
Notably, none of the mild annoyances I found in Delaney’s other books are present this time around. I don’t know if this is the case with the previous book, but The Matchmaker of Kenmare definitely has the tightest storytelling of Delaney’s books that I’ve read, and I’ve uniformly loved his other books. Nowhere in sight is the odd, padded pace of Ireland, the awkward and stilted romance of Tipperary, or the unnecessary characters of Shannon. The pace is perfect here, with none of the jarring I’d expect as the story moved from picturesque Ireland to the war-torn Ardennes. Delaney’s tendency towards odd tangents dovetails perfectly (and is even explicitly explained, at one point) by Ben MacCarthy’s narration, as the character’s affinity for tangents is his indirect way of dealing with painful memories. The romantic elements were genuinely affecting and passionate, and were often heartbreaking in their tragic realism.
If I have any gripe with the book, oddly enough, it’s with the cover. As I noted above, I was offered and greedily consumed a prepub galley, so I had only the text and Delaney’s reputation to guide me. When I saw the actual cover, it reminded me a lot of the other Delaney covers: a charming, idyllic, homespun image of a beautiful, dreamlike Ireland, whereupon distracted characters pace the countryside and ruminate on the country’s rich, mythic history. There’s a little of that in the Matchmaker of Kenmare, but to me, the story jumps out of that particular box. There’s something here for all readers, including romance, folklore, war, adventure, and humor. However, the lion’s share of the story is fairly intense, gritty, and emotionally charged. Speaking as a librarian, I honestly think the cover could turn away some readers who would otherwise very much enjoy the book, and likewise dupe other readers who aren’t prepared for Ben and Kate’s march through perdition.
Cover-judging aside, though, this is a truly a phenomenal book. It’s definitely my favorite of Delaney’s, and one of the better fiction books I’ve read in the past few years. The characters will stay with me for some time, I think.
This book is, more or less, a direct sequel to Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show. It picks up with Ben MacCarthy traveling Ireland, gathering stories for the Folklore Commission and dodging painful memories of his missing wife. As part of his travels, he visits Kate Begley, the titular matchmaker, thinking only to collect some observations on rural matchmaking traditions. He discovers Kate to be a force of nature, and is immediately drawn into a close friendship with her. Their odd platonic companionship becomes even more tightly wound as Kate suddenly meets the great love of her life, American soldier Charles Miller. Kate finagles a way to catch him that drags Ben off into the WWII battlefields of France, where their only protection is the professed wartime neutrality of Ireland. When Miller inexplicably disappears, Kate’s determination to find him has far-reaching consequences, not the least of which is the effect on Ben. Trapped by grief for his wife and unsure of his feelings for Kate, he nonetheless continues to escort Kate on her foolhardy quest, and has ample opportunity to reflect on what "neutrality" really means, both physically and emotionally.
So, in the beginning, I felt like I should have read Venetia Kelly’s Traveling Show first. Ben serves as the story’s narrator, and thus his backstory from the previous book is referred to rather than explained, creating a few moments of disorientation in the beginning. However, once I became familiar with Ben, I appreciated the symmetry that came with him being as mysterious to me as Kate- especially later in the book, when their analogous searches for the possibly-dead become entwined. Despite my initial wariness, I found this novel to work quite well as a standalone.
And what a standalone it is. Delaney, always a favorite author of mine, finally got it completely right this time around. This book has all of the strengths of his signature style. The settings are rich and easily visualized. The characters fit into archetypes that are very familiar to those who have read Delaney before, but are still delightfully quirky and real. I also found myself enjoying the bits of absurdity that should, by all rights, be bugging the hell out of me. Kate Begley is an infuriating character most of the time, but a blend of the odd (homilies at inappropriate times) and the profound (unshakeable conviction masking insecurity and naiveté) in her characterization make it impossible not to be invested in her. The same can be said for the story in general. For example, the book begins with a factoid about giraffes, which proves important later, when Ben and Kate end up meeting one. Seriously. Most readers would wonder how something like that could possibly work in a story that is already a mishmash of meet-cute, family memoir, and war story, but somehow, it does work. These bizarre asides just enriched the tale for me; they imparted a sense of the epic, like the unlikely details slipped into a genuine folk tale. Considering the author’s usual pattern, and the distinctly Irish bittersweetness of the book's ending, I’m sure this was Delaney’s intent.
Notably, none of the mild annoyances I found in Delaney’s other books are present this time around. I don’t know if this is the case with the previous book, but The Matchmaker of Kenmare definitely has the tightest storytelling of Delaney’s books that I’ve read, and I’ve uniformly loved his other books. Nowhere in sight is the odd, padded pace of Ireland, the awkward and stilted romance of Tipperary, or the unnecessary characters of Shannon. The pace is perfect here, with none of the jarring I’d expect as the story moved from picturesque Ireland to the war-torn Ardennes. Delaney’s tendency towards odd tangents dovetails perfectly (and is even explicitly explained, at one point) by Ben MacCarthy’s narration, as the character’s affinity for tangents is his indirect way of dealing with painful memories. The romantic elements were genuinely affecting and passionate, and were often heartbreaking in their tragic realism.
If I have any gripe with the book, oddly enough, it’s with the cover. As I noted above, I was offered and greedily consumed a prepub galley, so I had only the text and Delaney’s reputation to guide me. When I saw the actual cover, it reminded me a lot of the other Delaney covers: a charming, idyllic, homespun image of a beautiful, dreamlike Ireland, whereupon distracted characters pace the countryside and ruminate on the country’s rich, mythic history. There’s a little of that in the Matchmaker of Kenmare, but to me, the story jumps out of that particular box. There’s something here for all readers, including romance, folklore, war, adventure, and humor. However, the lion’s share of the story is fairly intense, gritty, and emotionally charged. Speaking as a librarian, I honestly think the cover could turn away some readers who would otherwise very much enjoy the book, and likewise dupe other readers who aren’t prepared for Ben and Kate’s march through perdition.
Cover-judging aside, though, this is a truly a phenomenal book. It’s definitely my favorite of Delaney’s, and one of the better fiction books I’ve read in the past few years. The characters will stay with me for some time, I think.
Verdict: 5 / 5
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