Saints and Sinners is not a novel for the faint-hearted. It is often brutal. At times the violence can seem unrelenting. However, the damage done to the hero and the heroine is never presented salaciously. There's real blood here and real pain.
The very masculine atmosphere of the story is also lifted and lightened by the tender love affair which plays out between Mick Costello, an Irishman on the run from the British authorities, and Kate Riordan, a Donegal girl who has been forced into prostitution on the streets of Victorian Glasgow.
The Plot of Saints and Sinners
The big idea which underpins the plot is an intriguing one. During the second half of the 19th century successive waves of Irish immigrants to Glasgow revitalized the Roman Catholic church in Scotland.
They also potentially threatened it, some of those immigrants working in secret for Ireland's independence from Britain by violent means. The need on the part of the hierarchy of the church to stop this leads to a moral dilemma for Thomas Costello, Mick's brother and a Catholic priest in the city.
The scenes involving what the book calls the Irish Republican Brotherhood offer some genuinely chilling scenes, especially when Thomas Costello finds himself caught between them, his church and his brother.
The Setting of Saints and Sinners
Anyone who knows Glasgow will have no difficulty in visualizing it while reading this book. For a reader unfamiliar with Glasgow, however, its cityscape and visual presence might have been more richly described. On the other hand, the interiors of dingy tenement flats and anonymous squalid streets are well drawn. The sense of the times in which the story takes places is also excellent.
The Characters in Saints and Sinners
Although some readers might find it hard to warm to a hero who starts the book with the brutal murder of two British soldiers without feeling any apparent remorse, the author draws Mick Costello very skilfully. He's a flawed but intriguing hero and he shows real tenderness towards Kate, the girl with whom he falls in love.
Kate too is a realistic and sympathetic character, as is Thomas, Mick's brother. However, the plot strand which has Thomas also falling in love with Kate does not quite convince. Perhaps it would have if this romantic rivalry had led the brothers to real personal conflict, influencing Thomas in how he reacts to the dangers facing his brother, the moral dillemmas he himself faces and the choices he might have made as a result.
The Strengths of Saints and Sinners
Saints and Sinners is founded on a strong premise and the author clearly has a gift for creating convincing and sympathetic characters. The story unfolds at a cracking pace and is told in strong, masculine prose, yet with a central love story which is tender and moving.
Although there is perhaps too much use of flashback, these generally work well. There are also some welcome touches of humour, including some in-jokes about the early days of Celtic Football Club, with which the author is closely associated. .
About the Author of Saints and Sinners
Paul Cuddihy is the editor of Celtic View, the official magazine of Celtic Football Club. He has edited a number of books for them and is also the author of a bestselling biography of Tommy Burns.
Saints and Sinners is published by Black & White Publishing, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland.
