Evenings & Weekends, Oisín McKenna
I’ve read a lot of books in my lifetime so far and it’s with full confidence that I say it has been a long time since I’ve read a debut novel that felt so assured and so polished.
Evenings & Weekends is set over an obnoxiously hot weekend in London, and it follows a group of characters all related in some shape or form. Maggie is 30, pregnant and grieving a city that she loves but has to now leave to afford to raise a child. Ed is her boyfriend, but he’s got a secret history with her best friend, Phil. Meanwhile, Phil is in love with his housemate Keith, who also has a boyfriend.
It sounds messy as hell but, honestly, the way McKenna has structured it was perfect. I was absolutely enamoured by the gorgeous writing in this – it felt so poetic and so vulnerable. These characters were drawn so beautifully and realistically; they all have flaws, and they all experience shifting dynamics throughout the book with themselves and each other, so it feels as though the reader is growing alongside them through the pages.
The representation of queerness is so authentic too – it’s sexy and nuanced! A perfect read for what’s hopefully going to be a hot summer to come, this book was moving and sexy and sensual. The novel also perfectly captures that magical feeling that London has to offer – that sense that there is always something more to obsess over, and to fall in love with.
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