Certain Dead Soldiers

Reviewed by Patty Osborne

Christine Slater’s Certain Dead Soldiers (Key Porter) takes place in Ireland. It starts out being about a young drunk and ends up being about his young wife. Eric Maguire is twenty-seven, has travelled to Spain, plays chess and reads books. But mostly he drinks, with single-minded dedication. He falls in love with Arabel, a girl from his home town. She loves him too, they get married, have a child. Sounds like a simple story but loving a drunk is never simple—and Arabel and lots of other people do love Eric. The writing here is sparse, and the dialogue is brilliant.