Keith Ridgway Criticism
Keith Ridgway's debut novel, The Long Falling (1998), introduces readers to Grace Quinn, a middle-aged Englishwoman living in rural Ireland, trapped in a marriage filled with abuse and blame. Her husband's brutality, fueled by alcohol, has driven away their gay son and left Grace isolated and desperate. In a moment of defiance, she kills her husband using the very car he once used to cause another tragic death. This act of desperation propels her into the heart of Dublin, seeking solace with her estranged son amidst the backdrop of the 1992 "X Case," reflecting Ireland's societal tensions.
Critics have noted Ridgway's ability to weave the sociopolitical landscape into the personal struggles of his characters. The novel's exploration of themes such as alienation, loss, and the quest for personal redemption unfolds through a third-person narrative with shifting perspectives. As observed by Jan Blodgett, Ridgway adeptly captures the "bleakness and passion of contemporary Ireland" through his clear and balanced prose. Despite its intricate narrative and thematic layers, some critics, like those in The Long Falling, suggest that the novel's emotional detachment may leave readers feeling cold.
Conversely, other reviews, such as by Rosemary Mahoney, highlight the suspenseful and poignant nature of the novel, while Jennie Ver Steeg critiques the stilted characterization. Nonetheless, Ridgway's work remains a significant exploration of Ireland's cultural and moral complexities, as noted by Christina Patterson, who acknowledges the novel's symbolic warning against the hypocrisy of marrying traditional and modern Irish identities.
Contents
-
The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review, the critic opines that Ridgway's characters' tendency toward excessive imperviousness and heartlessness "may leave readers cold." Set in Ireland, this grim debut follows a middle-aged woman on her doomed escape from her abusive, alcoholic husband. Grace Quinn's husband (a deliberate symbol of male brutality who's never identified by a given name) beats her, and his bullying has already banished their younger son, Martin, from their home after the boy's confession that he is gay. One evening, Grace makes an extreme, shocking bid for freedom and flees their small rural town for Dublin. Ironically, she arrives there during the furor that surrounded the real-life 1992 "X Case," in which a 13-year-old rape victim was prevented from traveling to England for an abortion. When her son in turn banishes her, Grace's isolation is played out in a small boarding house alongside the more public suffering of "X," for whom the nation rallies in sympathy. The novel poses interesting questions about the status of women in a changing Ireland, but it so insistently refuses to answer them that the problems take on a strained, academic tone. Despite Ridgway's ambition, the book is mired by the main characters' puzzling disaffection toward one another. Grace has sunk too far into emotional stultification for readers to empathize with her, and Ridgway never quite saves selfish Martin from our contempt when he tosses his mother out. In short, this book's prevailing lack of love—and oddly complacent attitude toward this lack—may leave readers cold.
-
The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review of The Long Falling, Blodgett observes that Ridgway "captures the bleakness and passion of contemporary Ireland." The review discusses the impact of a family's tragedy, the societal issues in Ireland, and the protagonist Grace Quinn's struggles within her violent marriage and her attempts to redeem her life amidst a backdrop of national debate.
-
The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review, Ver Steeg is impressed with Ridgway's creative ability to establish setting and tone, but is critical of his characterization mechanics—describing them as "stilted" and contrived in some areas. The review discusses the protagonist Grace Quinn, her brutalized life, and the themes of alienation and loss in the novel.
-
Review of The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review, Patterson notes the narrative voice, imagery, symbolism and warnings of hypocrisy in The Long Falling, but is leery of Ridgway's attempt to "link" the "disparate worlds" of old Irish tradition and new Irish freedom.
-
Review of The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review, the critic states that the emotional intricacies contained within The Long Falling are "thoroughly examined." The complex relationship between love, fear and betrayal is thoroughly examined in this debut novel by Ridgway, a young Dubliner. Ridgway's protagonist, Grace Quinn, is an Englishwoman who has lived her entire adult life in rural Ireland. Isolated by religion and circumstance, she has remained an outsider. Her isolation is exacerbated by an abusive husband (who blames her for the long-ago death of one of their sons) and an estranged relationship with her remaining son, a homosexual whose lifestyle is condemned by his father. An act of desperation forces Grace to seek out Martin in Dublin. Confusion haunts her as she journeys. "It clung to her." Ridgway writes. "In the dim light of Dublin, with the rain falling and the cars glinting and the crowds of people gathered by the roads, it clung to her." To escape confusion, Grace must shake off her doubts and discover her own true nature in the process.
-
The Long Falling
(summary)
In the following review, Mahoney remarks that Ridgway has "seamlessly" woven "incendiary issues … into a story that is at times excruciatingly suspenseful." Grace Quinn is kind and gentle, a harmless woman, really. She lives in rural Ireland in fear of a husband who holds her responsible both for the drowning death of their son Sean and for the homosexuality of their surviving son, Martin. To put it mildly, Grace is long-suffering. For years she has endured appalling verbal abuse and vicious beatings from her often drunken husband—until one night she takes matters into her own hands, climbs into the family car and kills this horrible man in the way he himself once killed a young woman while driving blind drunk on a dark and winding road. Given the circumstances, Grace Quinn's act is, you might say, understandable.