Say Nothing

A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

By: Patrick Radden Keefe

Narrated by: Matthew Blaney

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW AN FX LIMITED SERIES STREAMING ON HULU • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER • From the author of Empire of Pain—a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.

One of The New York Times’s 20 Best Books of the 21st Century • A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Century • A Los Angeles Times Best Nonfiction Book of the Last 30 Years

"Masked intruders dragged Jean McConville, a 38-year-old widow and mother of 10, from her Belfast home in 1972. In this meticulously reported book—as finely paced as a novel—Keefe uses McConville's murder as a prism to tell the history of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Interviewing people on both sides of the conflict, he transforms the tragic damage and waste of the era into a searing, utterly gripping saga." —New York Times Book Review

"Reads like a novel. . . . Keefe is . . . a master of narrative nonfiction. . . . An incredible story."—Rolling Stone

A Best Book of the Year: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, NPR, and more!

Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.

Patrick Radden Keefe's mesmerizing book on the bitter conflict in Northern Ireland and its aftermath uses the McConville case as a starting point for the tale of a society wracked by a violent guerrilla war, a war whose consequences have never been reckoned with. The brutal violence seared not only people like the McConville children, but also I.R.A. members embittered by a peace that fell far short of the goal of a united Ireland, and left them wondering whether the killings they committed were not justified acts of war, but simple murders.

From radical and impetuous I.R.A. terrorists such as Dolours Price, who, when she was barely out of her teens, was already planting bombs in London and targeting informers for execution, to the ferocious I.R.A. mastermind known as The Dark, to the spy games and dirty schemes of the British Army, to Gerry Adams, who negotiated the peace but betrayed his hardcore comrades by denying his I.R.A. past--Say Nothing conjures a world of passion, betrayal, vengeance, and anguish.

On a par with I'll Be Gone in the Dark, plus...

a tremendous portrait of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1970's and 1980's. Even if you aren't particularly interested in Irish history, this reads in large part like a detective novel. What the McConville family went through after the widowed mother of ten is kidnapped and murdered by the IRA is harrowing, and I felt myself with a heavy heart at many points in the book. Various people characterize the man suspected by most as having ordered the hit (and the murders of many others) as a sociopath, Machiavellian, a man in complete denial, or a statesman. The book raises the painful questions throughout: are brutal acts forgivable in the creation of a new country/society? are they necessary? The people described so beautifully and so poignantly will stay with me for a long, long time. The experience of the hunger strikers and others imprisoned for IRA crimes, the PTSD and dark nights of the soul that never end...all combine to create a memorable book. Plus, the narrator is perfect. He speaks in a quiet, intimate tone as if giving you confidential information. He never over-dramatizes and in fact conveys a quiet reverence for the experiences of the people portrayed. I stayed up much too late for two nights, hating to put this excellent book down. PS If at first the Northern Ireland accent is hard, give it time.

phenomenal

the research and explanation is so thorough; it's astounding. beautiful reading, as well. I'm amazed that this feels so distant yet so close in history.

Unflinching

We read this for our bookstore's True Crime book club and it made for a great discussion... for those that finished it.

For those that didn't finish the book, their major complaint was that there were too many timelines and too many characters to follow. It's a valid critique, but one that didn't bother me.

Keefe tackles the IRA in modern history- so mostly the 70's up to the 90's. It starts with a kidnapping of a young widow, one that happens in front of her ten children. The disappearance of Jean McConville is then interspersed throughout the rest of the book, as Keefe follows the lives of key IRA members.

The author does a great job of explaining the tensions in Northern Ireland at the time, and in particular how Catholics were treated. He presents it honestly, but never as an excuse for the crimes committed by the IRA and other factions during the time. This can be difficult to read at time- there's murder and bombings, and hunger strikes and forced feedings (the way the Price sisters were forced fed was particularly brutal), and the abuse and poverty McConville's children were forced to endure when their mother disappeared without a trace.

Narrator Matthew Blaney does an incredible job, his Irish accent lending authenticity to the story told. I would definitely recommend him, and I'm planning on checking out his other works!

Insight into history

This book had me searching for other material about the IRA and troubles.
The narrator has the most beautiful voice; a Belfast catholic accent that accurately grounds this poignant story.
Insight into important lessons from history.

A must read for anyone who needs to know the truth

The best history about a secret war ..... everyone needs to read. I had to listen twice am on my third.