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bookshelfofbee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder
jhbandcats's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.75
A bit repetitive and, to a non-Irish person, confusing because of geographical and historical references. In addition to the eight missing women who disappeared from the Triangle between 1993-1998, multiple missing and murdered women from across Ireland during a period of thirty-five years are discussed. I think it would've been clearer had the book focused solely on those eight women and that one area.
The author tries to make sense of the disappearances by clustering the women together - some disappeared around Christmastime, some had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, some disappeared in broad daylight while others disappeared in the middle of the night. Some women overlap several categories. In the end, they can only be categorized by being missing.
There are several reasons the disappearances remain unsolved. The terrorism of the Troubles was in full swing and sectarian killings were all too commonplace, leaving the police overwhelmed. There was no coordination between the police forces of Northern Ireland, the UK, and southern Ireland. Misogynistic assumptions and victim-blaming hampered investigations. The institutions of the church, the police, and the IRA were more interested in damage control than solving crimes that would reveal their own - priests, cops, soldiers - to be guilty.
This would have been a better book had it been tightened up, but it's still a damning indictment of violence against women. The author shows great compassion towards the families of the missing, noting that it's harder to have hopes repeatedly dashed as investigations fail than to have the certainty of a murder.
The author tries to make sense of the disappearances by clustering the women together - some disappeared around Christmastime, some had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, some disappeared in broad daylight while others disappeared in the middle of the night. Some women overlap several categories. In the end, they can only be categorized by being missing.
There are several reasons the disappearances remain unsolved. The terrorism of the Troubles was in full swing and sectarian killings were all too commonplace, leaving the police overwhelmed. There was no coordination between the police forces of Northern Ireland, the UK, and southern Ireland. Misogynistic assumptions and victim-blaming hampered investigations. The institutions of the church, the police, and the IRA were more interested in damage control than solving crimes that would reveal their own - priests, cops, soldiers - to be guilty.
This would have been a better book had it been tightened up, but it's still a damning indictment of violence against women. The author shows great compassion towards the families of the missing, noting that it's harder to have hopes repeatedly dashed as investigations fail than to have the certainty of a murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, and Murder