Tatty
Fiction, Irish
Vintage Books
2006
205
When I read the press release for Tatty I was intrigued. I had heard of Dwyer-Hickey before but had never read anything by her, so the following lines written by Colum McCann really grabbed me:
Of course the fact that she’s Irish and female was just an added bonus.
This is a very hard review to write as it is difficult to put in words exactly how Tatty can make you feel. I experienced a range of emotions while reading this book – the old phrase I laughed and I cried is really the only way to describe it – but I also smiled, frowned, grimaced, shook my head in disbelief: the list is endless.
Tatty tells the story of a young girl growing up in inner city Dublin, her alcoholic parents are at best indifferent, at worst suicidal and violent. Dwyer-Hickey uses language that is so simple it is genius. The story told through the eyes of an eight-year-old girl is completely believable and, by leaving more unsaid then said, Dwyer-Hickey evokes the imagination, allowing the reader to fill in the gaps.
Brilliantly written, Tatty is a harrowing yet somehow humorous tale. Go out and buy it. 
4/5
Score awarded by Bibliofemme: 3.7 out of 5
“The strength of this book lies in the heartbreaking honesty of its child narrator’s voice. Deceptively simple and impossible to put down.” 4/5
“‘A powerful, tragic tale of a disintegrating family that’s sparse but very well-written. Tatty, the young narrator, is the female equivalent of Roddy Doyle’s Paddy Clarke (but definitely without the Ha Ha Ha).” 3/5
“A power- house of a book, messages floated up between the lines as much as the words spoke for themselves, so much so that tears were shed more than once.” 4/5
“An emotive journey into the mind of a little girl from a dsyfuctional family. Never maudlin or self-pitying but simply told and totally engaging.” 4/5
“Beautifully written portrait of a dysfunctional Irish family. Witty and moving observations of complex social issues as seen through the eyes of a child. Very readable and highly recommended.” 4/5
Despite the sometimes grim subject matter, Tatty is enjoyable, heartbreaking and intensely evocative of childhood. 3/5
