Hood: A Bittersweet Queer Romance of Love and Death – Friends to Lovers in 1970s Catholic Dublin

Closeted Pen (Penelope) O'Grady takes the reader for a heartbreaking ride through Kubler-Ross' five stages of grief, via flashbacks, following the sudden death of her beloved Cara Wall, in a taxicab accident. Pen is a captivating character who lives a simple life and was deeply in love with her partner; she is stricken. Halfway in, Pen references the book title: the color of her Cara's red hair, the recall of her raincoat hood on a bittersweet busride, the "widowhood" to which she now is subject, the "sisterhood"... She tells us: "There wasn't a lesbianhood that I knew of, only an ism, sounding like a digestive disease." Tender, touching love story, beautifully written and moving, but ultimately, a drain. Further, for those sensitive, there is much explicit homosexuality in "Hood". Introduced to Emma Donoghue's writing with "Room", she made the lead character profoundly sympathetic and frankly for that reason, I persevered to finish.

I have read this book many times, and at times it makes me sob with bitter sadness, and at other times it makes me laugh out loud. The writing is exquisite; the bathtub scene (Pen's memory of a peaceful time with her and her recently deceased lover) captures perfectly what the essence of love is. It's beautiful. The frustration that Pen feels at having to keep silent about her partner's death (because she works at a Catholic school and because she lives in Ireland) transmits frustration to the readers as well -- but not in that hokey, "oh being a lesbian is so hard" preachy way. It is Pen's evolution as she learns to cope with Cara's death and to face certain truths she didn't want to deal with previously. I also believe that it is a beautiful love story but in a realistic way - the main characters are not perfect, yet their love is so intense. It's not a "romance" -- it's a real-life, complex love story. I haven't been as big a fan of Donoghue's other novels so far, but this one stands out as exceptional for its writing, story line and character development. Read Hood -- with a box of tissues nearby.

Or anyone, really. It's well written and entertaining. A bit slow in the beginning, but keep going and you won't regret it.

The story was way too boring for me. I never became engaged in the story in the way that I did with Room.

My first Emma Donoghue book was Slammerkin. I Love that book!!! I have read most if not all of her books and purchased all of the ones I have read. This one just didn’t grab me. I recommend all of her books in general. This just isn’t one of my favorites.

This is likely one of the best books I've ever read. I didn't know what to expect from it. It didn't go where I thought it would go (I tend to be rather jaded and wary of books like this) and it was gloriously unpredictable. This book is magical in the way that it draws you in. The surreal quality to Pen's life as she faces her responsibilities after her girlfriend's untimely death is felt by the reader as well. There is one part (no spoilers, don't worry) where she talks about reading the titles of the hundreds of books on the bookcases just to pass the time. Anything for a distraction. She talks about dusting. Trivial, mundane tasks. But it doesn't feel mundane to the reader. This is in my top 3 favorite books, and I am so happy I read it. My life is better, and I am a better person, for having read it.

Great book, different take on a love story and dealing with a partner's death. The premise seems depressing, but it was more thoughtful and contained some humor and levity. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I found myself thinking about it on numerous occasions, even after I finished it.

I like the author very much, but somehow couldn't get into this book of hers. I just loved her book "ROOM."