Fractured by Clár Ní Chonghaile

As part of the Legend 100 Club with Legend Press, I will be reviewing some new and upcoming titles over the next few months. The first book I was sent to review was Fractured by Clár Ní Chonghaile, released on the 1st of February. For my thoughts, just read below.

GoodReads / Amazon UK / WaterstonesThis isn’t normally a book I would opt for myself as I don’t tend to read this kind of subject matter but I was pleasantly surprised by this book. You would be hard pushed to not know about Somalia and in particular the capital city of Mogadishu. We’ve all heard how dangerous the place can be and the author does well at setting the scene in her debut novel, Fractured.

The main character, Peter Maguire, has been captured in Mogadishu and fears for his life. The tale centres around Peter, his mother Nina who travels to Somalia to wait for her sons release and Abdi, a Somali teen who, whilst working for Peter’s captors, strikes up a friendship with Maguire and helps him to escape from captivity – but at what cost?

It is quite clear through the authors descriptions of the country, and in particular the city, that she has visited there and she relays to us, the readers, just how dangerous it actually is. We all hear and see what goes on via the news but that is no comparison to seeing the torture and violence for yourself. The alternating chapters work well – I got drawn into Peter’s fear quite quickly and it was nice to be able to put that to one side for a few minutes and find out about Abdi as otherwise I think I would have felt captive too!

Whilst I mentioned that this wouldn’t necessarily be a book I would have picked up myself, I have to say that I am glad I did read this. The subject matter isn’t usually one of my choosing but the novel was a really interesting read, a great debut and really does beg the question – are we ever truly free?

About The Author

Clár grew up in the West of Ireland, the eldest of seven children. She left Ireland aged 19 to work as a graduate trainee journalist at Reuters in London. Clár has worked as a journalist for over 20 years and has lived in Madrid, Paris, the Ivory Coast, Senegal and Kenya. Whilst in Nairobi, she freelanced for the Guardian and travelled to Somalia to cover the African Union’s battle against al Shabaab and the plight of thousands of displaced people.

Does this sound like a novel you would pick up? Let me know in the comments below!

I was sent an ARC for the purpose of a honest, unbiased review.

Post contains affiliate links.