Written by Sasha Zatz
All The Bad Apples was the queer, witchy book I’ve always dreamed of, and I have nothing to say except to sing its praises and urge you to read it at this very moment! The perfect pitch for this novel would be “a queer, feminist witchy novel featuring a family curse and haunted houses in Ireland.” This was the first novel I’ve read by Möira Fowley-Doyle, but I’ll definitely be picking up her previous novels because this was a beautifully dark and twisty book that stole my entire heart.
Let’s start with Deena…she’s such a genuine main character, who was easy to relate to. She was so very human, and I loved her. It was so heartbreaking to watch her journey as she discovered her family’s past, but so fulfilling too. I also loved all the side characters: Finn, Cale, Mandy, and Rachel…they all brought their own struggles and dynamic to the story.
Now on to the storyline and message of the book because wow. All The Bad Apples is fiercely feminist and fights against the patriarchy and the church of Ireland. As the story progresses, Deena finds out all about her family’s past and what men, the church, and the public did to her ancestors and the “bad apples” of her family tree, and it was a truly harrowing story to read. The story that Deena discovers is the one that was lost, the history that was buried, the hidden voices of the women who were mistreated and abused going back centuries.
I had the pleasure of seeing Möira at YALC, and she said that All The Bad Apples was a story of her rage surrounding the 12th Amendment in Ireland and a story that expressed her hope that things can get better. I can really see both her rage and hope portrayed in All The Bad Apples and think it was beautifully done. Möira Fowley Doyle’s writing is magical and raw and stunning, and I was hooked onto every word.
The backdrop of Ireland really enhanced the novel, especially as the author blends in aspects of fantasy realism and magic that don’t make up a big part of the book but really enhance the storyline. Despite the darkness in many aspects of the book, the characters brought joy and banter to the storyline in a way that lit up the narrative.
Exploring issues such as abortion, grief, rape, homophobia, and the Magdalene laundries, All The Bad Apples was a deeply moving and heartwrenching book that I cannot recommend enough to anyone and everyone, regardless of gender, reading preference or heritage. This is a deeply important book that needs to be shared. Be right back, just going to read the rest of Möira’s books!
All The Bad Apples is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Will you be picking up All The Bad Apples? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
The day after the funeral all our mourning clothes hung out on the line like sleeping bats. ‘This will be really embarrassing,’ I kept saying to my family, ‘when she shows up at the door in a week or two.’
When Deena’s wild and mysterious sister Mandy disappears – presumed dead – her family are heartbroken. But Mandy has always been troubled. It’s just another bad thing to happen to Deena’s family. Only Deena refuses to believe it’s true.
And then the letters start arriving. Letters from Mandy, claiming that their family’s blighted history is not just bad luck or bad decisions – but a curse, handed down through the generations. Mandy has gone in search of the curse’s roots, and now Deena must find her. What they find will heal their family’s rotten past – or rip it apart forever.
