For me, The Lesser Bohemians would make for a wonderful movie that would transcend borders. I have watched Betty Blue more than once and I absolutely adore the soundtrack. In The Lesser Bohemians, the two main characters have a very similar relationship. Their relationship is toxic but the passion, the sex, their every move is raw. The famous French Movie by Jean-Jacques Beineix, Betty Blue, is mentioned by Eimear McBride and to be honest this is exactly what The Lesser Bohemians reminds me of.Ī movie from 1986, Betty Blue deals with the volatile relationship of thirty-four year old Zorg, an aspiring writer, and nineteen year old Betty, an incredibly impulsive and rash young woman. Well, this you are going to have to find out yourself by reading The Lesser Bohemians. Both have a past that has affected them greatly yet neither has the where-with-all to accept and move on.Ĭan they make this journey out the other side together?Ĭan their passion become more…become true love? Their relationship is damaged from the get go. This young girl and this older man become one. He has systematically abused his body in every way possible, yet he does not choose this life for himself. His body and mind are ravaged by a past he cannot deal with. He is twenty years her senior and while still only thirty-eight, he has lived a hard life. They find a connection and what begins can only be described as a very destructive relationship.

The girl has a chance meeting with an actor of some repute. This device increases the voyeuristic quality of the writing as you really feel you are watching something through a window, watching people you don’t know. The stop/start of each phrase and sentence almost makes the reader feel anxious, as she takes us through the first days of drama college.Įimear McBride has chosen to keep the name of the girl out of the story-line until much later in the book. There is a frenetic quality off the writing in the opening pages that conveys this notion of panic. Completely naive and totally inexperienced, she finds life difficult at the beginning.

Nominated in ‘The Easons Book Club Novel of the Year 2016’ category of the Bord Gais Energy Book Awards, which is taking place next week, I decided to pick up a copy and see why….Īn unnamed young Irish girl arrives in London in the early 1990’s. Published in September 2016 by Faber & Faber, Eimear McBride has written a novel, I feel, will appeal to a certain few. The Lesser Bohemians is a novel achieving great notoriety in the book world at the moment.

I will make myself of life here for life is this place and would be start of mine.’

National Emerging Writer Programme Overview.

The lesser bohemians by eimear mcbride