Trespasses

Overview

Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses, first published in 2022, is her debut novel. Set in Northern Ireland during the Troubles of the 1970s, it combines historical and literary fiction with the momentum of a forbidden love story. Yet the romance is not the book’s only, or even its ultimate, subject. Kennedy is equally interested in how political violence enters ordinary routines, shapes a community’s relationships and limits the choices available to individuals.

The novel follows Cushla Lavery, a young Catholic woman living in a small town near Belfast. She teaches at a parochial school by day and helps at her family’s pub at night, while sharing a home with her mother. At the pub she meets Michael Agnew, an older Protestant barrister known for defending IRA members. Their attraction develops into a secret and dangerous relationship. In a society where religious affiliation, political loyalties and community reputation carry immediate consequences, intimacy across those boundaries can put more than the lovers at risk. As the affair proceeds, pressures from their surroundings accumulate, and a devastating tragedy threatens to expose what they have been trying to keep hidden. The novel traces the resulting conflict among desire, loyalty, responsibility and self-preservation without reducing its characters to representatives of opposing political camps.

Themes and form

The title refers to more than the crossing of a Catholic–Protestant divide. Cushla and Michael also challenge boundaries formed by marriage, gender expectations, class, political allegiance and communal judgment. Cushla is not simply one half of a romance: she is a daughter, a teacher and a worker in a family business, negotiating the demands of each role in a world where women’s choices are closely scrutinized. Her story asks what responsibility means when private decisions affect relatives and neighbours, and when silence can be both a means of survival and a way that harm persists.

The Troubles remain a force throughout the book, but Kennedy does not make the novel a chronology of political events. Violence and uncertainty are felt through the everyday settings of home, school and pub, and through the ways people speak, withhold information, care for one another or avoid danger. This attention to ordinary life gives the novel the breadth of a community portrait. Its historical setting is specific, while its concerns—belonging, desire, moral compromise and the pressure of collective identity—reach beyond that setting. Kennedy’s restrained, attentive storytelling holds the emotional pull of the affair alongside the risks it creates, resisting both easy romanticization and a view of people as mere symbols of the conflict.

Background and reception

Kennedy grew up near Belfast during the years of the Troubles, giving her a close familiarity with the region and the social atmosphere the novel evokes. Trespasses is fiction rather than a claim to autobiography. Its author came to writing after nearly thirty years as a chef; at a friend’s urging, she joined a creative writing group and began developing work in fiction. Her experience in professional kitchens fostered discipline and attention to sensory detail. Before the novel, she built a readership through short stories, and the book marked her first full-length novel.

The novel won the Eason Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the McKitterick Prize. It was also shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, among other honours. Translated into more than twenty languages, it has reached readers well beyond Ireland. In 2025 it was adapted as a Channel 4 limited television series that received a BAFTA award. Its continued standing rests on both its vivid evocation of a particular place and period and its humane, unsentimental treatment of the people living within them. Trespasses established Kennedy as a significant contemporary Irish novelist and remains her best-known work.

About the Author

Louise Kennedy

Early life and education

Louise Kennedy is an Irish novelist and short-story writer, born in 1967. She grew up in Holywood, County Down, Northern Ireland, and from the age of twelve also lived in Dublin and County Kildare. She came of age during the Troubles, an experience that gives her writing a close familiarity with Northern Ireland’s communities and social divisions, though her fiction should not be mistaken for autobiography. Before beginning her literary career, Kennedy worked as a chef for nearly thirty years. A friend eventually insisted that she join a creative writing group, an invitation that became the unlikely beginning of her work as a writer. She went on to earn both an MA and a PhD in creative writing from Queen’s University Belfast.

Kennedy has described kitchen work as a source of discipline: professional cooks learn to turn up and get on with a task, while working in a kitchen also sharpens awareness of sound, smell and other sensory details. Those habits of attention and persistence became useful in her fiction. She began publishing short stories in literary journals, including The Stinging Fly, The Tangerine, Banshee, Wasafiri and Ambit, building a reputation before the publication of her first novel.

Major works and recognition

Kennedy’s short-story collection The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac appeared in 2022 and won the John McGahern Prize. The collection established her as a writer attentive to character, circumstance and the textures of ordinary life. Also published in 2022, Trespasses was her debut novel and brought her a much wider readership. It won the Eason Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards, the British Book Award for Debut Fiction Book of the Year and the McKitterick Prize. It was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize and the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, among other honours. The novel has been translated into more than twenty languages.

In 2025, Trespasses was adapted as a Channel 4 limited television series starring Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen and Gillian Anderson; the series received a BAFTA award. Kennedy’s second novel, Stations, was published in September 2026. Together, her short fiction and novels show a sustained interest in how private lives are shaped by family, work, community and the larger forces of history.

Reputation

Kennedy’s path into literature—after decades in professional kitchens and a late turn toward creative writing—has become a notable part of her public story, but her standing rests on the writing itself. Her work draws on a deep knowledge of Northern Ireland without restricting its appeal to that region. Questions of identity, desire, loyalty, power and moral responsibility give her settings a wider human resonance. Critics and readers have particularly valued her ability to evoke a close-knit community while allowing individual characters to remain complicated, rather than reducing them to political positions or historical types.

Kennedy is living and continues to write. The awards, international translations and screen adaptation of Trespasses have made it her best-known work and secured its place in contemporary Irish fiction. The success of that novel has also brought renewed attention to her earlier short stories, while her later work demonstrates a continuing career beyond a single breakthrough. Her combination of disciplined craft, sensory observation and nuanced attention to social boundaries has established her as a significant contemporary Irish writer.

StoryFlow

Cushla’s Forbidden Love

Cushla’s attraction to Michael grows into a secret relationship whose unequal terms become inseparable from its danger and loss.

Davy’s Childhood and Reunion

Davy’s connection with Cushla offers kindness and confidence in childhood, then survives years of separation to reappear in adulthood.

Michael’s Legal Defiance

Michael’s work defending accused Republicans pits his commitment to fair process against political hostility and growing danger.

Knowledge Graph

Storylines

Ash Wednesday 1975

Ash Wednesday at the Bar

[Cushla Lavery](entity:character-recall-character-cushla-lavery-a6a282d810f4) wipes the ashes from her forehead before taking her place behind the family bar. The largely Protestant regulars dislike being served by a woman visibly marked as Catholic, and her brother [Eamonn Lavery](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-lavery-2b271c7babf2) quietly urges her to hurry.

That evening on Ash Wednesday 1975

Michael Stops the Soldiers

After a soldier gropes Cushla while she clears glasses, [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) says he cannot do anything. [Michael Agnew](entity:character-recall-character-michael-agnew-c49349beb88c), a barrister drinking alone, intervenes and calmly makes the soldier retreat, offering Cushla a rare moment of protection in a town where everyone knows the risks of taking sides.

Later that Ash Wednesday

A Nighttime Escort

Cushla and Michael talk over drinks until closing. He recognizes the ashes she tried to remove, speaks easily about theatre and television, and leaves her intrigued by his attention and his polished manner.

The night after Ash Wednesday

Gina Names the Barrister

At home, Cushla tells her mother, [Gina Lavery](entity:character-recall-character-gina-lavery-2a9970fb9a88), about the older man from the bar. [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) recognizes him as [Michael Agnew](entity:character-recall-character-michael-agnew-c49349beb88c), recalls that he was once handsome and close to Cushla’s father, and describes his wife as a troubled woman from a grand Protestant family.

The next morning

Davy Arrives Without a Coat

On her way to [St Dallan’s School](entity:location-recall-location-458901c653a2), Cushla accidentally drenches [Davy McGeown](entity:character-recall-character-davy-mcgeown-aaac76c5a5dd) with her car. She helps dry him at school, where the headmaster, [Bradley](entity:character-recall-character-bradley-a56327643250), questions the boy about his missing coat and regards his family’s mixed marriage with suspicion.

The next morning

Slattery Terrorizes the Class

[Father Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-father-slattery-53d58f9db80a) interrupts Cushla’s class and uses a lurid story of sectarian sexual violence to frighten the children. He singles out Davy, insisting that Protestants hate Catholics; Cushla dismisses the class before his intimidation can go further.

That school day

Gerry Invites Cushla Out

At break, fellow teacher [Gerry Devlin](entity:character-recall-character-gerry-devlin-070590cc6bcf) invites Cushla to a party. She accepts, glad of a chance to leave her routines at home and work, even though she suspects that the other teachers will read more into the invitation than she intends.

That afternoon

The McGeown Family at Home

Cushla gives Davy a lift and discovers that [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) is too drunk to be left alone. She takes care of her mother, then drives Davy home, where his mother, [Betty McGeown](entity:character-recall-character-betty-mcgeown-87952b8eda30), and older brother, [Tommy McGeown](entity:character-recall-character-tommy-mcgeown-d6b440103e45), receive him.

That afternoon

Tommy Is Bullied

Outside the McGeown estate, Cushla sees local youths shove Tommy into the road. He refuses her offer of a lift, holding on to his pride, while Davy treats the incident as something ordinary and tells Cushla not to worry.

That evening

Cushla Cancels Her Shift

Cushla returns home to find [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) unconscious from drink and cannot leave her to work at the bar. [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) is furious, but Cushla finally tells him how bad their mother’s drinking has become, abandoning her usual efforts to conceal it.

That weekend

A Party Under Curfew

Gerry takes Cushla to a party in [Belfast](entity:location-recall-location-belfast-8a60016bc9a1). Their car is stopped at a military checkpoint, where soldiers search it, intimidate Gerry, and subject Cushla to sexualized taunts before letting them leave.

That night

The Outsider at the Singalong

At the party, Cushla finds herself an outsider among Gerry’s friends, who see her quieter town as insulated from [Belfast](entity:location-recall-location-belfast-8a60016bc9a1)’s violence. Their singalong to a song about [Derry](entity:location-recall-location-7242cbb9d528) deepens her sense that she belongs fully neither among them nor in the mixed community where she grew up.

Soon after Ash Wednesday

Michael at the Theatre

Cushla goes to the theatre with Gerry and unexpectedly encounters Michael among his influential friends, [Jim](entity:character-recall-character-jim-a57755302556) and [Penny](entity:character-recall-character-penny-20f5e0e3e7bd). Their conversation during the interval—about the play, Irish, and Cushla’s father—makes her feel seen, while Gerry notices the charge between them.

The following week

The Irish Conversation Night

Michael invites Cushla to a gathering where he and his friends are learning Irish. In the company of [Victor](entity:character-recall-character-victor-046c8bf7b3bc) and the others, she feels scrutinized and out of place as their discussion of the Irish word for no turns into a test of language and identity.

After the Irish gathering

Michael Gives Her Betsy Gray

On the drive home, Michael gives Cushla an old book about the 1798 rebellion and speaks hopefully about liberal traditions and workers’ unity. His politics appeal to her, but his faith in reconciliation feels remote from the discrimination and violence she sees around her.

That night

The First Kiss

Outside Cushla’s home, Michael admits that his circumstances are complicated and that he cannot always get away. Cushla understands that he is married and accepts the limited promise of future meetings, then kisses him.

The following days

Davy’s News and the Assault

Davy tells Cushla that his father, Seamie McGeown, has been attacked. The news reports initially suggest a dead body may be his; the family later learn that Seamie survived a savage beating that leaves him grievously injured.

After the assault

A Peace Song at Assembly

At a school assembly about Seamie’s injuries, [Father Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-father-slattery-53d58f9db80a) turns the moment into another sectarian warning, invoking so-called loyalist romper rooms. Gerry interrupts him with one of his peace songs, and Cushla joins in rather than let the priest control the children’s fear.

The days after the attack

Cushla Supports the McGeowns

Cushla and [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) bring food to the McGeown household. The family endure harassment from neighbours, who throw dirt into their garden and target their washing, while Davy and [Mandy](entity:character-recall-character-mandy-e8f20ab4a559) try to keep the household going during their father’s hospitalization.

During the visit

Gina Confronts the Youths

When local youths taunt the McGeowns outside their home, [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) steps forward and forces them to back away. Her courage is sharpened by the knowledge that Betty’s Protestant background makes the family especially isolated in the neighbourhood.

That evening

Michael Calls Cushla Out

Michael phones Cushla from a public call box and collects her for a drive into the hills. She tells him about Seamie’s assault and the children’s daily humiliations; he understands that the violence is directed at what a person is, not simply what they do.

That evening

Gorse on the Hillside

Looking across [Belfast Lough](entity:location-recall-location-e6de6cc7d4f2), Michael explains how the sound of bombs can carry into the hills. He gives Cushla gorse flowers and shares the superstition that the gift brings bad luck to giver and receiver; their desire turns the flowers into an intimate, uneasy token.

Around Easter

Cushla Learns of Michael’s Politics

At home, Cushla discovers that Michael has publicly criticized the Diplock court system. [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) explains that he and Cushla’s uncle once took part in civil-rights work, giving Cushla a fuller sense of his history and the risks attached to his legal principles.

Good Friday

The First Night at the Flat

Michael summons Cushla to his flat, where they begin their sexual relationship. Their intimacy is intense but unequal: she is drawn to him, while his married life and unpredictable availability leave her unsure what their relationship means.

The morning after

Cushla Finds Siobhán’s Name

At Michael’s flat, Cushla notices that his copy of [Dúil](entity:object-recall-object-d-il-05e82080f036) belongs to [Siobhán de Buitléar](entity:character-recall-character-siobh-n-de-buitl-ar-e73fd9027576), the woman who became his wife. Michael sidesteps her question, and the inscription gives his absent marriage a more immediate presence in their affair.

Late March 1975

Cushla and Michael Grow Closer

Michael shares the story of a boy who died by suicide at his boarding school, exposing a vulnerability beneath his cultivated manners. Cushla begins leaving belongings at his flat, and their meetings become a private domestic routine even as she knows he returns to his wife.

The days before First Communion

The First Confession Threat

[Father Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-father-slattery-53d58f9db80a) threatens Cushla’s young pupils with a harsh first confession and uses religious authority to make children fear their own supposed sinfulness. He singles out Davy again, deepening Cushla’s alarm about the priest’s access to her class.

Before Easter

Betty Faces a Social Worker

After Cushla tells [Bradley](entity:character-recall-character-bradley-a56327643250) that Betty is struggling, hoping to secure help and school meals for Davy, Bradley reports her to social services. A social worker visits the home, and Betty believes Cushla has accused her of neglect, damaging their trust.

The same period

Gina’s Hidden Bottles

Cushla finds [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) injured and drunk in the bath, then searches the house and uncovers bottles hidden throughout it. She calls [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) for help, but he dismisses her, leaving Cushla to confront both her mother’s dependence and her brother’s refusal to share responsibility.

Around Easter

Cushla Visits Michael’s Family Home

Unable to reach Michael at his flat, Cushla drives to his family home but cannot bring herself to knock. The house and its signs of settled domestic life intensify her awareness that she is an outsider in a relationship whose boundaries Michael controls.

Easter Sunday 1975

Easter Mass and the McGeowns

Cushla and [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) attend Mass, where [Father Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-father-slattery-53d58f9db80a) preaches a sermon of sectarian fear. Cushla gives the McGeown children [Easter](entity:time-recall-time-8441fe9013cc) eggs and offers them a lift home, while Tommy responds to her kindness with wary questions about what happened to his father.

Easter Sunday

The Family Lunch Turns Sour

At a strained [Easter](entity:time-recall-time-8441fe9013cc) lunch, [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) and [Marian](entity:character-recall-character-marian-1f8d5a5584eb) announce that they are expecting a third child. [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) feels excluded and retaliates by revealing Cushla’s late nights to the family, prompting Eamonn to shame her and leaving Cushla angry and exposed.

Easter Sunday evening

Tommy Thanks Cushla

Tommy phones to apologize for his anger and thank Cushla for the [Easter](entity:time-recall-time-8441fe9013cc) gifts. He asks whether he is allowed to call her, and she tells him he can; the exchange gives her a feeling of purpose, though she remains preoccupied with Michael.

After Easter

Tommy Leaves School

Cushla visits the McGeowns and talks with Tommy about books and his A-level studies. He says he cannot return to school while his father is so badly injured and the family needs money; despite her encouragement, he has begun to imagine no future beyond work and anger.

After the visit

Michael and Cushla Discuss Politics

At an Irish-language gathering, [Victor](entity:character-recall-character-victor-046c8bf7b3bc) provokes Michael over the defendants he represents and asks Cushla to translate politically charged words. She feels reduced to a Catholic token and later argues with Michael about his friends’ contempt and the burden of being reminded which side she belongs to.

Early spring 1975

Michael Takes the Case

Michael tells Cushla that he is defending three boys accused of murdering a police officer, after a witness identified them in a questionable lineup. [Victor](entity:character-recall-character-victor-046c8bf7b3bc) disapproves because he covered [Bloody Friday](entity:event-recall-event-bloody-friday-a9adac883a82) and believes Michael’s willingness to defend Republican suspects is naïve.

Late April 1975

Michael and Cushla Spend a Weekend in Dublin

Cushla and Michael secretly travel to [Dublin](entity:location-recall-location-d7ee455b2147), where they see a play, visit the [National Gallery of Ireland](entity:location-recall-location-a38f18836982), and share meals and nights together. Their closeness feels almost like a life they might have, but Michael admits that he omits things rather than lies, and Cushla knows he will return to his family.

Before First Communion

Davy’s First Confession

After Davy’s first confession, [Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-slattery-6174db576370) keeps him kneeling for an excessive penance. Tommy pulls his younger brother away and challenges the priest and [Bradley](entity:character-recall-character-bradley-a56327643250), while Cushla later gives Davy religious items she bought in [Dublin](entity:location-recall-location-d7ee455b2147), hoping to comfort him.

Around First Communion

Cushla Meets Michael’s Family

At a seaside restaurant, Cushla unexpectedly meets Michael’s wife, Joanna, and their son, Dermot. Joanna is beautiful and visibly unwell; Michael appears ashamed, while Cushla realizes how thoroughly she had invented an unappealing rival to make her affair easier to bear.

After the restaurant encounter

The Affair’s Terms

Cushla confronts Michael about his other affairs and learns that Joanna has alcoholism and depression and has been hospitalized for treatment. He says he does not consider Cushla their affair to be an affair, a distinction she distrusts even as she cannot bring herself to leave him.

Late spring 1975

Sports Day Triumph

At school sports day, Davy runs the final leg of a relay and wins two medals, briefly receiving the admiration of his classmates. Cushla takes photographs of his joy, aware that his place among the boys may be temporary and hard-won.

Late spring 1975

Cushla Finds the Torture Files

At Michael’s flat, Cushla discovers photographs and statements documenting beatings and torture suffered by the three young men in his case. The evidence makes the work behind his political convictions concrete and horrifying, while revealing how much of his life remains hidden from her.

Soon afterward

Michael Says He Loves Cushla

When Cushla visits Michael after a difficult day with the McGeowns, he explains what first attracted him to her and tells her that he loves her. She refuses to say it back immediately, believing she has been doing too much of the emotional running.

Late spring 1975

The Lyric Bomb

A car bomb explodes near the [Lyric Theatre](entity:location-recall-location-3f004c24763a) while Michael is attending a play. Cushla, alone in his flat, fears he has been caught in the blast; when he returns, she is relieved and angry that he treats the danger as ordinary.

That evening

Cushla Reads Michael’s Evidence

Waiting for Michael after the bombing, Cushla reads papers in his case files and sees the physical evidence of police torture. The documents explain why Michael believes the justice system is rotten, while leaving Cushla frightened by how closely his work brings him to danger.

Late spring 1975

Gerry’s Wedding Is Raided

At Gerry’s wedding reception, British soldiers sweep through the hall beneath a circling helicopter, interrupting the celebration and terrifying the guests. Cushla sees a young soldier’s fear as he passes, a moment that complicates the familiar image of uniformed power.

After Gerry’s wedding

Cushla Waits at Michael’s Flat

Cushla uses the key Michael gave her to let herself into his flat while he is away. She examines his case files, drinks his whiskey, and listens to records, increasingly frightened by the threat around him and by how little she can know about his work.

Early summer 1975

The Affair at Jim’s Party

At [Jim](entity:character-recall-character-jim-a57755302556)’s birthday party, Cushla meets [Mrs Coyle](entity:character-recall-character-mrs-coyle-5b52bed3c58d), whose son is among the boys in Michael’s murder case. She also faces the condescension of a guest who treats her as a barmaid, then finds an unexpected ally in Mrs Coyle, who has learned to endure the same privileged crowd.

That night

Mrs Coyle’s Son Needs a Lawyer

Cushla learns that [Mrs Coyle](entity:character-recall-character-mrs-coyle-5b52bed3c58d)’s son has been charged with murder but refuses to recognize the court. Michael says he can help if the young man accepts a solicitor, and quietly promises Mrs Coyle that he will look for a way to defend him.

That night

Michael’s Song

Michael sings a hymn at the party, and Cushla feels a sudden, troubling tenderness as she hears a plaintive side of him she has not known. The song gives the chapter its image of moving toward death and salvation, though neither promise offers her certainty.

After the party

The Wedding Night at the Flat

Cushla and Michael leave early and return to his flat, where their intimacy is tangled with jealousy and talk of other lovers. He tells her more about the case against [Mrs Coyle](entity:character-recall-character-mrs-coyle-5b52bed3c58d)’s son, a young man identified in a lineup who may have been radicalized after imprisonment.

Early summer 1975

A School Picnic

Cushla and Gerry take their classes to the park. Davy walks with them, and Cushla helps him feel included; the children encounter signs of violence and rumors of satanism, reminders that even their games and stories are shaped by the conflict surrounding them.

During the picnic

The Bluebell Promise

Cushla tells Davy the folklore about bluebells, including the belief that turning one inside out can bring the person one loves. Davy hopes the charm will work for her, making her embarrassed by his perceptiveness and briefly hopeful despite the warning signs in her relationship.

Early summer 1975

Michael Warns He May Disappear

At the bar, Michael warns Cushla that he may be unable to contact her for several days. He says he loves her, but his secrecy and unease suggest mounting danger; she lets him go without asking what he cannot tell her.

Soon afterward

Cushla and Gina at the Seaside

Cushla takes [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) to a seaside hotel, where they unexpectedly see [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) and [Marian](entity:character-recall-character-marian-1f8d5a5584eb) celebrating Marian’s family occasion. Gina feels excluded and drinks heavily, while Cushla watches her brother’s new family life from a separate table.

At the seaside hotel

Joanna and Dermot Reappear

As Cushla and [Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) leave the dining room, Gina greets Michael and introduces Cushla to Joanna and Dermot. Joanna’s beauty and evident fragility overturn Cushla’s imagined portrait, and Michael’s shameful expression makes Cushla see the ordinary family life she has been kept outside.

The drive home

Cushla Understands the Pattern

Cushla recognizes that Michael has had other affairs and has controlled the pace of their relationship, drawing her closer when she is about to give up. She realizes she is not the first woman and probably will not be the last, even though she still cannot let him go.

Early summer 1975

The RUC Tracks Michael

Cushla learns that the police have been following Michael, and she worries that their surveillance may have placed her in danger. Michael’s late arrivals, heavy drinking, and watchfulness now seem connected to a pressure she had mistaken for marital strain.

Days before the assassination

Michael and Cushla in the Pub

Michael comes to the family bar while Cushla is there with Gerry. His jealousy is visible, but he and Cushla manage a brief exchange and arrange to meet the next day. The ease of their private routine is already overshadowed by his warning that he may vanish.

The following morning

Michael Agnew Is Assassinated

Michael is shot dead in his bed at home, in front of Joanna. The news reaches Cushla while she is working at the bar; she learns of his death from [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) and collapses into grief, unable to reconcile the report with her expectation of seeing him that day.

Immediately after the news

Cushla Breaks Down by the Lough

Cushla leaves the bar and tells [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) she had been on her way to see Michael. Eamonn realizes that they were lovers, but insists she return to work and conceal the relationship, fearing that the community will punish the family for it.

That day

The News Shows Michael’s Body

Television footage shows Michael’s body being carried from his house in a disorderly position. Cushla fixates on his injured shoulder, recognizing a detail the news treats as incidental and feeling once more how little care the world gives the dead.

The morning after the assassination

Cushla Grieves at Home

[Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) brings Cushla food, but Cushla is sick and cannot face breakfast. Gina tells stories about Michael from years earlier, trying to comfort her; the memories now feel indecent, and Cushla struggles to accept that he is gone.

The day after Michael’s death

Cushla Visits the Crime Scene

Cushla drives to Michael’s village and finds police around his family home. She is turned away as a stranger, then stops at the lay-by where they once shared gorse and clutches the fence until it cuts her hand, trying to make physical pain contain her grief.

After the assassination

Gerry Offers Shelter

Gerry visits Cushla and recognizes that Michael was her lover. She admits she loved him but cannot speak the words aloud; Gerry listens without demanding anything and later lets her stay with him when the house becomes unbearable.

The days after Michael’s death

Cushla Returns to the McGeowns

Cushla visits the McGeown family and finds Seamie still severely disabled and Tommy withdrawn from school and home. Davy and [Mandy](entity:character-recall-character-mandy-e8f20ab4a559)’s affection gives her comfort, while Tommy’s anger and closeness unsettle her; she leaves without knowing that the boy will soon be accused of murder.

The same visit

Tommy Asks to Meet Cushla

Tommy suggests that he and Cushla meet now that she is no longer his brother’s teacher. She gives a noncommittal answer and leaves with a sense of unease, unaware that the police will later use his notebook to frame their connection as suspicious.

A few days after Michael’s death

Cushla Is Questioned by the RUC

[Disco Peeler](entity:character-recall-character-disco-peeler-ec0ec2eed3a5) summons Cushla to the police station and confronts her with surveillance photographs of her and Michael. He probes her relationship with Tommy and uses Tommy’s notebook to suggest that she had encouraged the teenager, then threatens to keep her for days before dismissing her without charge.

The day of the interrogation

Cushla Is Driven from Teaching

After Cushla returns home, [Bradley](entity:character-recall-character-bradley-a56327643250) and [Father Slattery](entity:character-recall-character-father-slattery-53d58f9db80a) tell her that her position at school is untenable because she sheltered the McGeown family and has become associated with a murder suspect. They pressure her to take a year away from teaching, stripping her of work and standing.

Weeks after the interrogation

Davy’s Letter Arrives

Confined to her room, Cushla receives a letter from Davy. He and [Mandy](entity:character-recall-character-mandy-e8f20ab4a559) have been placed in separate foster homes, and Cushla blames herself for the chain of events, including the social-services visit she had hoped would help Betty.

Later that summer

Gina Acknowledges the Affair

[Gina](entity:character-recall-character-gina-e29e7661b6b9) tells Cushla that she knew about Michael because she saw her getting into his car. She had hoped the affair would end on its own, but now admits she should have gone with Cushla when the police questioned her and urges her to stop living in bed.

Near the end of summer

Cushla Visits the Beach

Cushla finally leaves the house and walks beside the sea, still imagining that she is being followed. She sees a young couple together in the grass and feels an aching longing for ordinary intimacy, then continues toward a small waterfall, uncertain whether she can return to life.

Late summer 1975

The Trial Explains Tommy’s Crime

A newspaper account reveals that Tommy had been working at a house opposite Michael’s. Michael invited the boy in for tea, and Tommy apparently mistook a photograph of Michael in legal robes for proof that he was a judge; the chance encounter gave a furious teenager access to his victim.

After the trial

Tommy Is Sentenced to Life

Tommy refuses to recognize the court and offers no defense. He is convicted of murdering Michael and sentenced to life imprisonment, leaving Cushla to recognize that his rage and the prosecution’s evidence have fixed the course of two lives.

After Tommy’s sentencing

The Lavery Pub Is Bombed

A bomb hidden in a beer keg damages the family pub, though an anonymous warning allows it to be evacuated before the blast. [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) decides to sell and leave town; he tells Cushla she will go with him so he can keep watch over her.

After the pub bombing

Victor Tells Cushla Michael Was Happy

[Victor](entity:character-recall-character-victor-046c8bf7b3bc) visits the damaged bar and admits that he had warned Michael he was attracting dangerous attention. He tells Cushla that Michael had been happy in his final months, and that she made him happy, giving her a rare acknowledgment that their love was real.

After Victor leaves

Cushla Keeps the Last Photograph

Cushla looks through the photographs from the school picnic and the pub. The final image shows Michael reaching toward her wrist as she sets down his drink; for a moment, the photograph restores the small, ordinary closeness they had shared.

Soon after Michael’s funeral

The McGeown Home Burns

A mob attacks the McGeown home with a firebomb while the family is inside. Cushla runs into the burning house and brings Davy out; he has gone back for his schoolbag, and the crowd’s hostility makes the rescue only the beginning of the family’s danger.

The night of the fire

Tommy Is Arrested

The family tells Cushla that police have arrested Tommy for Michael’s murder. The sudden accusation helps explain the crowd’s fury, but Cushla cannot understand how Tommy could have known Michael, and fears that her own affair has somehow connected the two men.

The night of the fire

Cushla Shelters the McGeowns

Cushla takes the displaced family to her home and gives them food and beds. [Eamonn](entity:character-recall-character-eamonn-742441714894) orders them out the next morning, fearing the consequences for the pub and family; Cushla drives the McGeowns to relatives near [Short Strand](entity:location-recall-location-short-strand-6fcf65397304), separating Davy from the teacher he trusts.

The morning after the family leaves

Davy Leaves Cushla a Letter

Cushla finds Davy’s schoolbag in the spare room. Inside is his unfinished letter asking God to make his father better, bring Tommy home, and let Miss Lavery get the person she loves; the child’s simple hopes bring her guilt and grief together.

Several days later

Cushla Is Followed and Dismissed

The [RUC](entity:organization-recall-organization-4648e0aa489f) brings Cushla back for questioning and shows her photographs of her meetings with Michael. She realizes she had been surveilled for months, then learns that the school’s governors are likely to remove her; the town’s suspicion now limits both her work and her freedom.

Later that summer

Davy and Mandy Enter Foster Care

A letter from Davy confirms that he and [Mandy](entity:character-recall-character-mandy-e8f20ab4a559) have been placed with different foster families. Cushla cannot repair the losses caused by the fire, Seamie’s injuries, Tommy’s imprisonment, and her own inability to protect the children from the adults and institutions around them.

After the summer holidays

Cushla Leaves the Town

Cut off from teaching and the pub, Cushla begins to consider leaving. She develops the film she took at the picnic, preserving pictures of Davy and the children among the few things that still connect her to the life she has lost.

After Tommy’s conviction

A Conditional Clause

Cushla revisits the path of events that connected her to Michael and the McGeowns. She wonders whether she herself was the condition that led Tommy to Michael, though the account of the crime eventually shows that their connection was a terrible coincidence rather than a conspiracy.

2015

The Memorial Sculpture

At an exhibition, Cushla encounters a shrouded sculpture made in Michael’s memory and recognizes the details of his body beneath the artist’s interpretation. A man touches her arm and asks whether she remembers him; it is Davy, grown into a middle-aged man.

2015

Cushla and Davy Reunite

Cushla and Davy clasp hands beside the sculpture. He introduces her to Ellen, his young partner, and tells Cushla he has a daughter with whom he is slowly rebuilding a relationship; she explains that Gerry remains her best friend and that she has a family of her own.

2015

The John Lavery Paintings

Davy invites Cushla to look at the John Lavery works with him. She touches the cold, hollow sculpture one last time, feeling the absence of the man whose body it represents, then accepts Davy’s invitation and leaves the memorial with a living connection restored.