Youth throws us into the lives of four teenagers for a brief but tumultuous couple months as they try to navigate their way through adolescence. Angel and Princess are both nearing the end of their secondary school days; Angel must decide if his future lies with his current gang and their dreams of YouTube fame, while Princess is trying everything she can to secure herself a place at university. All while navigating an unwelcome Ireland that is grappling with its racial insecurity. Dean is stuck between trading on his famous father’s name and hiding from it. Tanya is trying to manoeuvre through her public life, both online and in reality, after the wrong video went viral. Through their overlapping stories we are guided through the Balbriggan of today, with all of its multiculturalism, messiness and beauty.
No author claiming to be writing about young people in Ireland today could possibly ignore the effect social media has had on our society and this is an area of the book that I think the author particularly excels in. Curran fully commits to depicting just how pervasive social media is. It is not treated as a plot device in the novel but rather as the brutal, unavoidable fact of life that it is. Every misstep or success by one of our protagonists is broadcast out into the world of the novel; we see the constant scrutiny they are under from their peers and the never ending public performance they are participating in. This is most blatantly demonstrated by Tanya. Each of her narrations is either introduced or concluded with a description of one of her TikTok’s from that moment. We see her public persona, the relentlessly cheerful and playful @Tanyeah2, but the real life emotions and situations rarely mirror what the outside world is allowed to see. Sometimes it is just the standard drama of teenage life that she keeps hidden away, at other times it is more extreme personal catastrophes that she is outwardly smiling, lip syncing and vaping through. The fact that the online world drives and motivates a large part of all of the characters actions, from the protagonists down through, is a powerful depiction of modern life.
The affection the author feels for the setting and the characters of this book is palpable off the page and it serves to draw the reader in until you are completely engrossed. We are guided up Main street and into the chip shops and alleyways where our protagonists take refuge in such caring attention to detail that you are lulled into thinking you have always known the place. A sense of place, of belonging, is also extremely important to the characters in the novel. It is what brings the undercurrent of violence that runs through all of the book to a climax in an argument over who is allowed to say the local phrase, “Alright our.” All the racial tension and masculine posturing is brought to a head by this phrase and in it we get to see the struggle over who gets to claim Balbriggan as part of their heritage. The white and black divide is laid out clearly in the language of the place and although our protagonists start to reach across that divide, it is still a reality in the wider novel and in modern Ireland. But there is hope in the book through our main characters’ youthful strivings to overcome these prejudices.
The lives of young people are characterised by a regular fluctuation between highs and lows, victories and disasters, conquests and heartbreaks. As you grow up and head ever towards adulthood, you can never quite tell if the training wheels are still attached or if you are going 90 with no helmet on. And Kevin Curran’s four protagonists are careening towards a pile up at all times. You have to root for each of them through all of their petty fancies and their sometimes ridiculous, but always hopeful, attempts to do their best. It is a pleasure to be brought along for the ride.
WORDS: Leo Callanan
