“By the Hob” by Kevin Dooley

Book Review:

The story of common men and women struggling to realize their dreams and surmount adversities to reach beyond them, drives this writer.

Having a hard row to how himself, Dooley’s characters are reality-based with no pulled punches. His women, singly and in groups, in all their variety, are almost real to the touch.

His characters are driven by their situations and their situations are tough and very real.

Patrick and Mary weave their often separate ways through unspeakable circumstances and social conditions throughout the sea-ports of the world. Both carry the daemons on a poor Irish upbringing, yet ferociously oppose the injustices and cruelty they find blocking their every step towards surviving with a family in an uncaring world.

Dooley’s style is melodic, understated at times, yet seduces the reader further and further into the dark tributaries of this couples life journey. Patrick’s almost surreal experiences counterpoint Mary’s down-to-earth methods of problem-solving.

Mike Heenan, Ottawa Editor & Poet