Everything to Live For

This novel, one in a series called ‘Survivors’, is closely based on the catastrophic events which occurred in Omagh, Northern Ireland, in August 1998. It is difficult to quarrel with the intention of such a book, since it acts as a potent reminder of the resilience within the human spirit which allows it to overcome even the most horrific of personal tragedies. Judged as a work of fiction, however, it is less than convincing. The story, often genuinely poignant in tone and detail, is of Lizzie, its 13-year-old Protestant heroine, who has imbibed some of the prejudices of her particular kind of upbringing and who, following her desperately sad experiences in the bombing which devastates her home town, is forced to reconsider some of her assumptions. But the characterisation throughout the novel is thin, the complexities of the situation are – perhaps inevitably in a children’s ‘Ulster troubles’ novel – over-simplified and the writing marred by unlikely dialogue and inappropriate imagery.