Edna O’Brien (2015) The Little Red Chairs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Red_Chairs

What if?

You can fill that question in various ways and answer in different art forms. The Little Red Chairs in the title of Edna O’Brien’s novel are symbolic of a wider evil—that of genocide and those involved. It refers to a commemorative art installation in Sarajevo: 11,541 red chairs placed in the street—one for each person killed during the 1,425 day siege, including 643 smaller chairs for the children. How many red chairs would we need for Palestine? How many smaller chairs?

What if?

‘God was one of us?’ as Joan Armstrong claimed in her 1995, Number 1 hit single.

What if?

Evil was among us? (which it is in the malign presence of Donald J.Trump).

What if?

Radovan Karadžić, living under the alias Dragan Dabić, was arrested in Belgrade, Serbia, in July 2008.

One of the architects of the Bosnian genocide—who claimed it never happened and was all fake news was arrested on a 73 public bus while traveling between Belgrade and the suburb of Batajnica.

O’Brien’s Dr Vlad is a mash up of Radovan Karadžić.

He had been living in plain sight in the New Belgrade district, practicing as an alternative medicine therapist and "spiritual healer." At the time of his arrest, his appearance was altered by a long, bushy white beard, long hair tied in a knot, and thick glasses.

O’Brien Dr Vlad is not living in New Belgrade, but has newly arrived in in Cloonoila. He quickly beguiles and seduces the locals. The draper’s wife Fidelma, beautiful, but stand-offish is married to an older man. Familiar territory for O’Brien and the fulcrum of most of her stories.

Fidelma is not so much seduced as the seducer—with a terrible reckoning.

What if?

Fidelma makes a clean enough break, but carries all the hurt and trauma she experienced with her to a new location—London.

Again, O’Brien plays with loneliness and the listless lostness of the newly immigrant population as a jumping off point for discovery. This new London is not just for the Irish, but others claiming asylum, who have no home of their own.

The Beast of Bosnia is inside Fidelma. Her life revolves around dead-end cleaning jobs with a supervisor called Medusa and a room and bed loaned to her by Jasmeen, while her daughter Jade is away (not for long).

Her exorcism is listening to and living with the stories of rape and murder told by other immigrants. She feels responsible. O’Brien’s women often have this twin duality of being insider and outsider at the same time.

What if?

Going to the Hague, although it terrifies her, and seeing the Beast of Bosnia again, up  close, is a kind of exorcism? Read on.   

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CVBVVGD6