The South by Colm Toibin

Set in Spain, Katherine Proctor left her husband and son in Ireland because she needed to get away. The year was 1950.  While she is in Spain, she has an affair, she has a child, she paints and she doesn’t return home until 5 years later. 

I selected this book for two reasons: 1. The author has a book titled “Brooklyn” and I have been wanting to read this for some time.  2. I saw an interview with the author and he was promoting a new book that seemed interesting to me, so I decided to read all of his books in the order written. This is his first novel.

At the end of “The South”, Toibin writes an Afterword.  Although this is fiction, the places that Katherine visited were places that he actually visited in his life.  Toibin also notes that some of the characters are built from certain people that he met.  I like that he gives us this history.

Katherine is torn between all the men in her life - her son, her husband, her lover and even a close friend that she meets in Spain (who just happens to also be from Ireland). Ironically, her mother left her father when Katherine was young.  She financed her own daughters’ trip when she said she had to get away.