Book Spotlight: Trespassers and Other Stories by Áine Greaney
Today I’m excited to participated in the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour for Áine Greaney, in support of her book, Trespassers and Other Stories. Learn more about the book below, and read through to the end to hear about a time in my life when I struggled to fit into a new place.
Book Summary
From coastal Massachusetts to rural Ireland, the characters in Trespassers struggle to reconcile past and present, place and displacement, loss and hope.
A woman travels from her Massachusetts home to her native Irish village to care for her estranged and sick father. Back in her childhood home, she comes face-to-face with previously unspoken losses.
A wealthy couple travels to Cape Cod to spend their 52nd summer on the wife’s ancestral estate. On their private beach above Nantucket Sound, the husband must confront the realities of their long marriage and its social-class tensions.
An Irish immigrant takes her American-born teen to a raucous Boston house party. At that party, the teenager discovers that her mother had lied about her child’s birth father—a lie that will permanently divide the mother and daughter.
PUBLISHER: Sea Crow Press
ISBN-10: 1961864207
ISBN-13 978-1961864207
Print Length: 130 pages
Purchase a copy of Trespassers and Other Stories on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.org. You can also add this to your GoodReads reading list.
About the Author
An Irish native, Áine Greaney now lives and writes in the Boston area. In addition to her five published books, her short works have appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Salon, Another Chicago Magazine, The Boston Globe Magazine, The New York Times, Books Ireland, NPR/WBUR and other publications.
As well as being an author, Greaney is a trained teacher who has designed and led fiction and non-fiction workshops, presentations and keynotes for regional, national and international organizations.
Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, cited in Best American Essays and named a ‘Great Group Read’ by the Women’s National Book Association.
You can find her online at:
Website: https://www.ainegreaney.com
Instagram: ainegreaney
Bluesky: ainegreaney.bsky
Facebook: Aine Greaney, Writer
Threads: ainegreaney
Reflections from Renee:
Áine Greaney’s book (come back on April 11 for my review!) is full of characters reconciling their sense of self with a variety of places. I personally did that for the entire first part of my life. My mother and stepfather moved frequently throughout my childhood, from town to town, as they followed work opportunities, and with each move, I struggled with leaving friends behind and figuring how best I would fit in at the next place.
I learned to live in a constant state of flux, holding my breath and waiting for the inevitable. If my parents were unhappy with our living situation, we simply packed up all our things and left. By the time I was in seventh grade, I had attended six different schools and lived in more houses, duplexes, and mobile homes than I’ll ever be able to remember. I hated starting new schools and trying to make friends from scratch. I would begin mastering one concept in math or reading and by the time I began studies at a different school, sometimes halfway through the year, the material would be completely foreign to me.
The summer after sixth grade, we made our biggest move. We went from living in Central Texas to the mountains of Western North Carolina to be closer to my stepfather’s family. While we had visited the area before, living there was quite a different story. Being of Hispanic heritage, I didn’t look like most of my other classmates. But I don’t remember anyone being rude about it. People simply asked “where I was from” and often told me I looked exotic with my olive skin, dark hair, and green eyes. Many of the people in my new town spoke with a different vernacular, saying things like “You’uns” when they meant “You all.” A pack of crackers at the convenience store was called “Nabs.” I strained to decipher the southern accent I was unfamiliar with, especially from the locals. My clothes were completely out of place, and I carefully watched what other people my age were wearing and tried to duplicate the look at discount clothing stores. I buried my nose in books at the small local library as a way to escape. I learned just how important college basketball was to my new friends (they taught me about teams at UNC, Duke, N.C. State, and Clemson mostly).
The moving didn’t stop, but I was able to attend the middle and high school in the same town from 7th through 12th grades. I stayed local for college, too, and though my parents eventually moved back to Texas, I remained in North Carolina. It has become my home, and I’ve built a family and career here. It’s the only place my children have ever lived. While at first it was a foreign place to me, I soon grew to love the friendly, outgoing people, the majestic mountains, and the proximity to the ocean. We go back to visit Texas every now and then, and it’s wonderful to catch up with my extended family, but it’s always a comfort when the plane lands on the runway and I know I’ll be headed back soon to this place I now call home.