The Blue Tango (The Blue Trilogy) - Softcover

McNamee, Eoin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571207707 ISBN 13: 9780571207701

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2002

Synopsis

'At 2.20am in the morning of the 13th November 1952 the body of 19 year old Patricia Curran was carried into the surgery belonging to the family doctor. At first Dr Kenneth Wilson thought she had been the victim of an accidental shooting. In fact a subsequent post-mortem revealed that she had been stabbed thirty seven times.'

Eoin McNamee's wonderful novel, which is based on one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in recent history, is at once a gripping thriller and a danse macabre through a shadowy world of corruption and sexual intrigue - a darkly lyric narrative of white mischief in post-war Ireland, of false accusation and savage murder, presided over by the haunted, tragic figure of Patricia Curran.

About this title

Review

When the daughter of an Irish judge was found stabbed 37 times in the early hours of 13 November 1952 in the Northern Irish village of Whiteabbey-the setting of Eoine McNamee's The Blue Tango--the story made front page news for almost a year. Iain Gordon, an Englishman stationed at a nearby RAF base was arrested and then tried on circumstantial evidence. Only last year his original conviction was overturned and he was finally released. The real killer of 19-year-old Patricia Curran was never caught and Blue Tango is the tantalising fictional reading of the case.

McNamee's novel, intricately researched and meticulously capturing the tense mood of rural post-war Northern Ireland, makes clear the cultural significance of the Curran murder. Patricia Curran was beautiful, headstrong and in full-blown rebellion against the emotional wasteland of her family and struggling to determine a life for herself. She was like a stormwarning of the changes that would sweep over that future generation of women who were determined their lives would be a contrast to their mothers. But the media spin of the 1950s interpreted her protest merely as sluttish behaviour (she had had lovers, including a married man) and the story was often reduced to a homicidal peep-show.

McNamee dissects the detectives who were involved in the case, has interviewed witnesses and studied the newspaper accounts of the period, but the inner thoughts and motivations of those involved are purely his own invention. His fine talent is in transporting the reader back into that stifling world where a few brave souls were struggling to emerge into the 20th century while fighting off their country's most archaic traditions. --Julie Wheelwright

Review

A shadowy, seductive read. -- Elle

It’s so well done I couldn’t tell where reportage ended and invention began. . . This is a remarkable book and, in time... it will come to be seen as a classic. -- Carlo Gebler, Irish Times

McNamee’s style is meticulous and precise. . . Such verbal polish adds to the thrill of the crime story, giving it the black and wicked glitter of jet. -- Sunday Times

This is a beautifully written book. . . A fascinating story, compellingly told. -- Irish Independent

This is a crackingly well-told literary whodunnit. . . an atmospheric book, recreating a tangible sense of the stifled, secretive lives of individuals. -- New Statesman

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0571207707
• ISBN 13: 9780571207701
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288