Faithful Place by Tana French

Well, now that was one heck of a ride.  I'm not sure what to do with a crime novel where the ending of the story and the unraveling of the mystery leaves me slightly bereft.  The whole point is to capture the criminal, right?  This is a story filled with moral ambiguities and probably all the better for it.  But what do you do when you feel sympathetic (should I be?) towards the perpetrator?  I should be on the side of the victim, and I am, but in this case things aren't so clearly defined in black and white.  In Faithful Place Tana French has once again managed to create not only a gripping murder mystery, but a psychologically complex tale of a family and a small neighborhood community rocked by the disappearance of someone beloved.   Unfortunately I'm not going to be able to explain in any great detail why I'm feeling the way I do for fear of spoiling the story, so this is one you might want to pick up if you've either enjoyed French's previous novels or like mysteries that are at least as much about the characters as the crime, if you want to see what I mean.

Faithful Place is Frank Mackey's story.  Long before he was an undercover detective he was growing up in a working class neighborhood of Dublin called Faithful Place.  This is the mid-1980s and jobs are scarce and opportunities for getting out of the neighborhood are even scarcer.  For some, finding work at the local Guinness plant is considered a step up the ladder and the chance at a little security.  Rosie Daly's father is so close to wrangling her a position at the company, she begins to get fidgity and afraid she'll be stuck there forever.  What she wants is to run away with Frank Mackey to England.  Mr. Daly hates Frank Mackey and thinks of him as a waster with no potential and certainly not a romantic candidate for his daughter.  It doesn't help that Frank's Da and Mr. Daly have had an ongoing feud that's lasted so long no one even knows what started it.  The Mackeys are a poor family with five children and secrets they keep well hidden behind closed doors.  The sort of secrets that end in bruises and crushed spirits.

So when Rosie suggests hopping the ferry across the Irish Sea to Liverpool or London, it takes Frank about ten seconds to agree with her plan.  Everything is kept under tight wraps, the money is saved, the tickets are bought and they decide to meet up at the top of the hill of Faithful Place in the middle of the night and set off on their new lives together unbeknownst to either of their families.  And they almost get away with it, only Rosie doesn't show.  Last minute jitters?  Rosie has the tickets, so after waiting hours and hours until daylight, Frank decides she's done a runner and gone without him.  Maybe she's gone off with someone else or maybe she's changed her mind in consideration of Frank's dysfunctional family, but he decides to leave Faithful Place forever, too.

Twenty-two years later builders working in a long abandoned house in Faithful Place stumble across a suitcase stuffed up a fireplace.  The house is all but derelict now, but it was once the stomping grounds for teens with no better place to go and young lovers looking for privacy.  Frank's never been back and has long since moved on with his life.  Not only has he turned completely away from the old neighborhood, but he's joined the Guards, which is probably just about the lowest thing anyone could do from somewhere like Faithful Place.  It's like being a turncoat.  A frenzied call from his younger sister draws him back in to his old life.  He's reluctant to return, but he has to find out if the suitcase is the one Rosie was going to take with her to England.  And if she left, why was the suitcase so obviously hidden away.  And just where is Rosie Daly now?           

Frank Mackey is a renegade.  Likable in so many ways, but happy to manipulate people or the situation to get what he wants or thinks he needs.  His code of conduct is questionable.  You want to think it's all for the higher good, but you wonder how much is personal.  He clashes, in some cases almost violently, with his family and even with his colleagues.  The investigation into the disappearance of Rosie Daly, now a cold case so many years later, lands him in a state of limbo--not especially welcomed by any group involved--family, neighborhood friends, or the Murder Squad detectives.  I think ultimately he's one of the good guys, but he's such a complex character there were times I really wondered.        

It's so easy with French's novels to crack open the book and settle right in knowing she's going to take good care of her readers.  And once again she pretty much does it all perfectly.  I may not know a neighborhood like Faithful Place, but by the time I closed the book I could well imagine it and the heartache and grief that it contained.  I wonder if we'll see Frank Mackey again, or if she'll move on to yet another detective in Dublin's Murder Squad? 

Comments

[Marg]

I am planning on reading this in the next couple of weeks and I have really, really high hopes for it. I love that French isn't afraid to make decisions for her characters that make you think.

[jenn]

I just reviewed this a couple of weeks ago and really got into the story. It was so gritty, and I felt for all the characters, fighting to get out of that place or excusing why they stayed. It was an interesting look at "place" as partial perpetrator.

Love this writer.

[catharina]

Just a question, Danielle. A review in my newspaper last weekend said there is rather much Irish 'slang' in Faithful Place which made the story difficult to read. As you do not mention that at all, I wonder maybe it is not as bad as that?

[Heidi]

I am listening to the audio and the slang isn't a problem that way- I could see where it could be hard to read though...

[Stefanie]

This sounds like a deliciously fun read. I like that French can manage such great character develpoment and have a ripping plot at the same time.

[kimbofo]

I'm looking forward to reading this one at some point. I read her previous two and really enjoyed them, so it's good to hear this one is of the same standard.

[Kathleen]

I'm frightfully behind with reading Tana French's work. I still haven't read The Woods or The Likeness and now I have yet another to read!

[Dorothy W.]

I will read French one of these days -- I really will! I keep planning on it, but it hasn't quite worked yet. But soon!

[Danielle]

Marg--You'll have to tell me what you think of this when you get to it--I'm curious to hear what others think. I thought she did well making characters who are very human and maybe more than a little selfish and most certainly flawed, but they were all interesting.
Jenn--I will have to look up your review. It *was* a gritty read--that's a good description. And the place really formed the characters didn't it. I was quite sympathetic to the characters, too, even the ones I didn't necessarily like. It made it harder to see it all as a clear cut sort of story--good vs bad.
Catharina--There was a lot of slang, but it was all really fitting for the story and the neighborhood where it took place. I didn't find it at all jarring and even sort of liked it--very streetwise. I think most savvy readers should easily figure it out from the context if there is anything unusual that they don't already know. I've returned the book now, so I can't go back and look, but it didn't strike me as making the story hard to understand. Now if it was a movie and they were talking really fast, that might make for a challenge.
Heidi--Now I wish I had the book back. The language didn't bother me or confuse the meaning. I have been to Ireland before, so I am not sure if that would make a difference or not. Or maybe I was just reading for general context and it worked. I would love to listen to it on audio now--now that would make for a very 'textured' listen! :)
Stefanie--I think she is very good at what she does. I've loved all three of the books I've read now and highly recommend her.
Kimbofo--This was a very different story, but I think she tells it very well. To me it seemed very much up to her previous standards. I hope you enjoy it when you get to it.
Kathleen--Oh well, think of it as having three good reads to look forward to still. And though in a way the characters are somewhat interrelated you really don't need to read them in any order. The Likeness does refer a little to In the Woods--the characters at least, I didn't think you would miss anything without any prior knowledge.
Dorothy--She's a good author to have on hand for when you want a break from heavier books. But she is still a good writer, so it's not just fluffy reading. It's hard to work in all the books you really want to read, isn't it!

[Buried In Print]

Your first paragraph mirrored my feelings exactly on having finished In the Woods. It was a very unsettling feeling and yet it felt "right" too, in the sense that the ending suited the story even if part of me wanted another kind of resolution at the end. I'm looking forward to reading her next!

[litlove]

I will definitely be getting this when it comes out in paperback. Thank you for the wonderful review!

[Danielle]

Buried in Print--As weird as it sounds, I sometimes sort of like that unsettled feeling. I think I might actually have been disappointed if the ends were all neatly tied up in the first book. Some questions were answered, but if everything had been, it would have been too "pat" I think. In any case she is very good at what she does!
Litlove--I think you still have The Likeness to read? That should keep you going while you're waiting for this in paper. I'm not sure which is my favorite--they were all excellent in their own way, so you're in for a treat whichever you pick up first.

[sakura]

I loved her two previous novels so am looking forward to this one. I think Frank Mackey is one her more interesting characters precisely because he's so manipulative and with it. It would be interesting to see a different side to him.