The Donoghue Girl by Kim Fahner

A Fiction Review by James M. Fisher

“They’re fine girls. All of them.”

So says Michael Power to a workmate. There are three Donoghue girls: Ann, Lizzie and Maizie. There is also a brother, Jack. All are unmarried, and as Ann is the eldest (26), she is expected to marry first. According to popular opinion in the town of Creighton, Ontario, she is also the prettiest. Lizzie, a few years her junior at 23, is more of a free spirit and a free thinker, the type of girl that a man may not find attractive in 1938. As such, she doesn’t expect to marry, nor does she want to, at this point in her life.

Creighton is a nickel-mining town and the Donoghues own a general store in the town. The aforementioned Michael Power is a mine safety manager, newly arrived from Pembroke. Handsome and always well-dressed, he stands out to all the girls in town, as Creighton men look ‘shabby’ to them. He is also unmarried and in his thirties.

Michael begins to court Ann and one thing leads to another and they end up making love in a hidden grove. Ann has let her passions get the better of her and she soon regrets doing so. After not hearing from Michael for a week, she panics and worries that she has done something stupid. Her fears are soon realized when Michael comes calling to break off the relationship. “Just bad timing,” he tells her. Ann, of course, is devastated.

One might think of Michael as a bounder at this point (I did), as he doesn’t appear to have any definite reason for dumping Ann. Even worse, he now wants to court Lizzie, which may have been in the back of his mind all along. Definitely bounder material!

The Donoghue Girl (referring solely to Lizzie at this point) goes on to tell of the courtship, marriage and trials of Lizzie and Michael in the pre-war years. At one point, in a reprimanding action, the mine’s bosses transfer Michael to Finland to manage a mine there, which makes him miss the birth of his first child. Prone to bouts of anger and drinking, the time in Finland is a burden to him, as things are happening back home that he is powerless to do anything about.

“Cinematic in scope, as well as emotionally intimate, Fahner's debut novel is a moving portrayal of the Donoghues, an Irish Catholic family, with special focus on middle sister Lizzie, the "feisty" one. This passionate and beautifully written story explores the challenges that arise in family dynamics, often blurring the line between actions unbidden and by choice. Filled with cutting insights and astute observations, this is a gorgeous read.”

-Catherine Graham, author of Quarry and The Most Cunning Heart

Ms. Graham is an author I very much admire and what she says may be true, but my reading experience was less than enthusiastic.¹ There was little tension (aside from the marriage itself) and poor Ann was pretty much written out of the script after her indiscretion. Keeping her around would have added to the Donoghue family’s issues and made for some great scenes between Ann and Lizzie, and perhaps Michael too. To be fair, Ann does make a reappearance near the end of the book.

Overall, the story felt a little “flat” to me, and Michael's choices at the end left me a little bewildered. Perhaps that is the point. I expected a historical fiction novel, one that was heavier on the historical side than the fiction side. The storyline was mostly predictable, and the characters were not as fully developed as I would have liked either. Surprisingly, Mrs. Donoghue, the mother, shows the greatest range of emotions, from strict, stiff upper lip to caring mother and nursemaid.

This is Ms. Fahner’s first novel (she is already an accomplished poet), and I hope she continues to go from strength to strength in her fiction writing.

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About the Author

Kim Fahner lives and writes in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. She has published two chapbooks, You Must Imagine the Cold Here (Scrivener, 1997) and Fault Lines and Shatter Cones (Emergency Flash Mob Press, 2023), as well as five full books of poetry, Kim is the First Vice-Chair of The Writers' Union of Canada (2023-25), a full member of the League of Canadian Poets, and a supporting member of the Playwrights Guild of Canada. She was Poet Laureate for the City of Greater Sudbury from 2016-18.

About the Reviewer

James M. Fisher is the Editor-in-Chief of The Seaboard Review. He lives in Miramichi New Brunswick with his wife Diane, their Tabby cat Eddie and Buster the Border Collie. James works as an MRI Technologist at the Miramichi Hospital.

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Latitude 46 (Sept. 19 2024)

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 324 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1988989841

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1988989846

1. As always, your mileage may vary! I am a grumpy old man. There is also a misapplication of the Biblical parable of the Prodigal Son, which slipped past the editor(s).