THAT’S THAT

Growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1970s and '80s, after "the Troubles" between Protestants and Catholics had regenerated in the 1960s, would test anyone. Adding abusive teachers and a stultifying home life only makes things more interesting. Narrator Gerard Doyle has a spare, sad Irish voice that carries this memoir along wonderfully. The author’s story is at once harrowing and hopeful, with Broderick’s mother’s final words echoed in the title of the book. Doyle creates an atmosphere that demands our attention, using pauses and a lyrical sense of pacing to emotionally engage us. He has terrific diction, and although we’ve heard stories like this before, Doyle makes this one fresh, urgent, and immersive. R.I.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2014]