It's 1992, and Irish Londoner Donal is wondering who his mum's new neighbour will be. At the same time he's scouting for something more than a one night stand at his workplace, a gay club where he works as a bartender. When the new neighbour, Diarmat, moves in, Donal is smitten. But Donal is a Protestant and Diarmat is Catholic, and Donal's mum isn't pleased when he starts going out with Diarmat.

Donal's father was killed in a bombing campaign in Belfast during the height of the Troubles, and since then his mum has ignored any Catholics. But it's not just his mum's resistance that Donal has to deal with. Diarmat was in training to be a priest, but left the seminary when he got involved with another man. Donal can handle that-but can he handle the other bombshell Diarmat will drop?

Troubles is a wonderful, thought-provoking and heart-warming tale. What I really enjoyed about this story was the quietness of it, the little details of life during the early 90s and the way things haven't really changed almost twenty years later. GS Wiley has a sure way with dialogue and draws quick but solid sketches of all the characters. I could picture Donal's family, his mum's house, the club and Donal's drag queen best friend Peter as I read. It's definitely the characters that make this slice-of-life story so strong. If you like quiet and realistic reads, this is for you.

Reviewed by: Maija