The Inheritance

by Cauvery Madhavan

It’s 1986 and 29-year-old Marlo O’Sullivan of London-Irish stock has just found out that his sister is his mother. To steady his life, he moves to Glengarriff, to a cottage he has inherited, in the stunning Beara Peninsula. When a neighbour dies unexpectedly, Marlo takes over his minibus service to Cork. There is nothing regular about the regulars on the bus - especially Sully, a non-verbal 6 year old, who goes nowhere but does the journey back and forth every day, on his own. Marlo is landed with this a strange but compassionate arrangement, fashioned to give the child’s mother respite from his care. Sully’s obsession with an imaginary friend in the ancient oak forests of Glengarriff slowly unveils its terrible secrets – a 400-hundred-year-old tragedy reveals itself.

Genres: Ireland, Fiction

336 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2024

Reviews

[Tilly Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who loves Irish fiction will adore this wonderful, uplifting story!

This novel is all about the characters, and especially the unforgettable, utterly loveable Marlo. He’s now up there with my beloved Cressy and Benji (Still Life and Beartown!) in my favourite characters of all time who are just GOOD PEOPLE. It’s not a shouty novel - although there’s plenty going on, from unexpected losses to new love affairs - but it’s just so full of kindness, and warmth, and humour, and wisdom and I just want to read it again and again because I felt so comforted being with those people in that beautiful setting. I also really enjoyed the quirky historical chapters, which taught me about a horrific time I knew nothing about, and were done in a really original and almost spiritual way. Gosh, and then there’s the cow and the crow and honestly, it’s just perfection.

One I’d so desperately love to see more people reading!

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Inheritance by Cauvery Madhaven publishes with HopeRoad September 19th and is described as ‘a beguiling Irish story drawn together with a compelling historical thread.’ As a Corkonian born and bred, with strong ancestral links to West Cork on both sides, The Inheritance was a book I knew would appeal to me.

The Beara peninsula ‘stretches for a distance of 48km (30 miles) from Glengarriff to Dursey Island and back to Kenmare’ in Co. Kerry and it is primarily Glengarriff and the stunning Dursey Island where Cauvery Madhaven sets her scéal (story). In 1986 Marlo O’Sullivan returns to his mother’s homeland in Glengarriff after inheriting an old cottage. Marlo was born and reared in the UK so there is an initial adjustment as he settles in to this remote location. The views are breathtaking and the silence that accompanies the scene before him is a far cry from the cacophony of the life he left behind. Marlo is attempting to reset his life following some recent developments in the UK and he is very hopeful that this time on the Beara peninsula might be just the tonic he needs. He is wary of how he will be accepted but, as he slowly meets the locals and they realise his lineage, he soon finds himself adapting rather quickly to this new life.

Marlo is a writer with aspirations and has secured some work with a newspaper in Butte Montana, where the connection to Allihies in West Cork is very strong but this work is not enough to sustain him. Through his neighbours he picks up a work at a local estate and crosses paths with Kitty. Kitty has her own story to tell but, with a young son, Sully, with developmental issues, Kitty has no time to dwell on her past. Marlo and Kitty start to spend some time together and slowly a bond builds between all three but unbeknownst to Kitty and Marlo, Sully is a child with a very special gift.

As Marlo establishes himself in this new community, a parallel thread weaves its way through the novel. Cauvery Madhaven takes the reader on a journey back in time reminding us all of a terrible fate that befell the people of Beara back in 1602. This was a time of great upheaval in Ireland, following the Battle of Kinsale. The Irish were driven from their homes, with many massacred in a brutal and vengeful attack by the then Queen Elizabeth of England. Through the eyes of another young boy, we are given insights into the horror and heartbreak that was experienced by the Irish, with a particular focus on the Beara peninsula.

Using a clever mechanism, Cauvery Madhaven links these two stories in a mystical manner allowing us to delve into the history of the land while simultaneously following Marlo’s story as he puts down his own roots among this hearty and sincere community.

The Inheritance is an ode to the people of the Beara peninsula and the sense of community that exists in this rural and rugged place. Using historical references intertwined with a more modern story, The Inheritance provides the reader with an education into a land and a people that have stood firm, always struggling for their right to be. Marlo and Kitty have their own personal fight and, as romance filters through the pages, there is also an element of sadness and a longing to belong, to be accepted.

With compelling insights, an emotional narrative, a wonderful community and enjoyable banter, The Inheritance is an engaging fusion of fact and fiction. Cauvery Madhaven has a grá (love) for West Cork and this passion seeps through on every page. With fans including Donal Ryan and Graham Norton, this homage to West Cork will appeal to all who love adventure with an eye to history and who want to immerse themselves into the beautiful landscape of the Beara peninsula.

[D Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful characters with a link to a very sad part of history

[Fictionophile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having visited Ireland earlier this year, the author's descriptions of the Irish landscape brought my fond  memories vividly to life. "The Inheritance" brought the Irish people and their often tragic history resoundingly alive.

Marlo O'Sullivan was a very likeable young man. Thoughtful, impulsive, empathetic, and kind to animals, he was compassionate and kind.

When he first moves to the Beara Penninsula, after inheriting a ramshackle cottage, he is warmly welcomed by his neighbours once they realize his family connections to the place. When, just a few short months later, one of those neighbours dies, Marlo steps into the breach to help his widow by taking over the minibus run. There are many regulars who use the bus each day to go to work and Marlo is loathe to let anyone down. Also on the bus is a mute, six-year-old boy named Sully. Sully does not get off the bus, rather he does the entire round trip. The bus serves as a sort of baby-sitter while his single mother works.

"Weather in these parts is a right moody bitch."

Kitty works for the same wealthy couple that Marlo does odd jobs for in his spare time. Marlo is attracted to her and was surprised to learn that Kitty is Sully's mother. The boy is mute but gifted in other ways, especially art. Sully enjoys walking in the forest with his mother - where he seems to have an invisible friend... This leads to a second timeline narrative putting a human face on the tragic history of Ireland's 'Long March of O'Sullivan Beare'. Back then, there was another mute boy whose family were slain in the Dursey Massacre. The author links these two timelines in a way that is both clever and more than a touch mystical.

The novel's title refers to more than just Marlo's inheritance of the old cottage. In addition he inherits a strong community with a tragic history.

"Shame leads to secrets, the source of every unhappiness.
Better to wear your story on the outside like an armour."

This is a richly woven novel. A novel of community, kinship, forgiveness, belonging, acceptance, and history. Also a book that will make you chuckle on more than one occasion at the Irish banter in their own unique conversational lilt. With a satisfying ending that will warm your heart, I can easily recommend "The Inheritance".

I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent on the Beara Peninsula and look forward to reading more of this talented author's work.

[Noelle Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a person with distant Beara roots, I can't help but fall into the magic that Ms. Maudhavan conjures: rough glens, lime-washed cottages, rain, sacrifice, tentative relationships. The story of O'Sullivan Beare and his clan deftly weaves between a gentler tale of Irish women and men in present times. A vein of immigration, and survival, runs down its path. Cauvery is a natural storyteller, leading us ever forward through dramas large and small. This is a sweet book that shines despite its basis dark histories. Hope, it says.

[Robyn Mombourquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet story about family, friends and community set in Ireland in the 1980’s.

The supernatural characters POV that took place about halfway through the plot took me out of the original story enough that I found it distracting.

[Colleen Maclennan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much happening in this book. A feel good book with people helping each other . Some mystical charm associated with an Irish battle . Lots of descriptions of rural Ireland with all its beauty and the wrath and majestic qualities of the Atlantic Ocean and small islands inhabited by marine life and people.

[Linda Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marlo has inherited a cottage in Beara.

The Inheritance is a wonderful story that weaves the past and recent history into a tale of love, acceptance, forgiveness and belonging. I was completely captivated by it.

Cauvery Madhavan’s writing is beautiful. She depicts the wild attraction of Ireland to perfection so that she places her readers right in the heart of her settings. The Beara surroundings are every bit as much a character in The Inheritance as any of the people. The sound of Stevie bellowing, the colour of spilt blood, the touch of a hand and so on are simple, but carefully crafted, examples of how The Inheritance appeals to the senses and consequently becomes far more than the sum of its parts. It’s a magnificent book. I adored the naturalistic dialogue too, and the change in tone relating to the sections set in the early 1600s feels authentic and captivating.

The Inheritance is so difficult to categorise. There’s history steeped right into the landscape, and a sense of mystery with a touch of the supernatural through Sully that is realistic and totally believable. Religion, superstition and ritual all add layers of interest, and these aspects are frequently created with fond and gentle ribbing of the characters like Assumpta, so that The Inheritance feels written with, as well as about, love, tolerance and understanding. The brutality of the historical realism is balanced brilliantly by the humour and different forms of love in the more modern sections. Equally, this is a romance too. Consequently, The Inheritance appeals to a wide audience and is successful on every level.

What is so completely engaging is the sense of community. The people here all know one another’s business, and the area is filled with long memories, petty rivalries and fierce loyalties so that I finished The Inheritance feeling, like Marlo, as if I’d been plunged head first into a real place with little to prepare me. Both Marlo and Kitty have strong reasons to find themselves on the edge of social acceptability, and yet they are also the heart of the narrative. The way in which the community is described means that every single character is unforgettable, vivid and absolutely true to life. I loved them all.

I loved, too, the echoing ripples of history and kinship that link past and present. Cauvery Madavan is literally giving voice to the mute, the ordinary and the forgotten in a powerful and affecting narrative.

I completely lost my heart to The Inheritance because it is part of the rich, varied and engrossing culture of storytelling that those influenced by Ireland seem to achieve so effortlessly. I am delighted to find there are other Cauvery Madavan books to discover, because she is a writer with heart whose story held me transfixed and who demonstrates with warmth and understanding how letting go of the past enhances our present. Don’t miss this one. It’s glorious.

[Alva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes, a book comes along, and you're lucky enough to have picked up a copy, it having been recommended by another reader, and the book just consumes you from start to finish, and you realise that there is a multitude of stories in the book, not just one continuing story, but many stories of lives, people, places, humanity at its best. This is that book.
The Inheritance starts off simply enough, with Marlo receiving an unexpected inheritance - not of money, but of property. And this inheritance changes his life and the lives of those he touches while adjusting himself to his new uncomplicated life. Of asking favours, of asking for help, of giving help, accepting help. Of loss, of integration into a community, like diving into a chasm of community-minded people.
And oh that Sully just broke my heart. And Mossie and Assumpta, and the bus - the thing that somehow holds the community together in times of grief and loss, and how Marlo accepts his role as replacement, while knowing he can never replace.
Goodness me, this one hit hard. It's a brilliant write - a clever intelligent book about an Irish place. Kerry, Beara, the entire rugged beauty of it all. And yet it's about people - all the people. Fantastic, exceptional writing from Cauvery Madhavan.

[Patricia_PS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll never forget this book!

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I firmly believe that a country’s history is what shapes a person. That person may want to run away from the country, or emigrate but one is shaped by the happenings of said country. This came out clearly in Cauvery Madhavan’s excellent 2020 novel The Tainted, which was about the history of India’s Connaught Rangers. Once again, with her new novel, The Inheritance, Cauvery Madhavan focuses on an interesting aspect of Irish history, which we’ll get into a bit later.

Marlo O’ Sullivan inherits a house in the Beara Penninsula and, although he has ulterior motives, he does genuinely want to mix in with the townfolk and he manages by helping out. Things change when a member of the community dies and Marlo inherits his bus route. While learning the route he comes across a mute child called Sully and his mother Kitty. The closer he gets to this couple, the more Marlo starts to uncover secrets which bind his family and Sully’s to a historical event.

The happening is the The retreat of Donald O’ Sullivan Beare along with his army of 400 soldiers and 1300 people from the Glengarriff forest to the safer pastures of Leitrim. As he feared that the march up north would be too dangerous for his wife and child, O’ Sullivan left them in the care of some kinsfolk back in the forest. They survived, so did O’ Sullivan.

The way Cauvery Madhavan links both present and past with Sully and Marlo being the epicentre is clever and has a mystical quality. As stated earlier, our history is entwined in us no matter what and this is executed brilliantly.

However the parts which I think were admirable is how Cauvery builds up an entire village of distinct people. I loved reading about these characters: Kitty , Sully, Mossie , Assumpta, Father Angelo, JB and Bernard ( I have a soft spot for him) just to name a few. Not only do we get details about their characters but their interactions with Marlo are equally different. Not to mention the lush depictions of the Irish countryside. As a person who enjoys reading about nature, I just marvelled at the greenness of the forests and valleys.

The word inheritance clearly has a multi faceted usage in this novel and Cauvery Madhavan explores each one and the complexities that inheriting material objects or inheriting our country’s history emerge excellently. The Inheritance is a rich novel which can be interpreted on many levels.

[Tripfiction · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

Dual timeline novel set on the BEARA PENINSULA (West Cork)



1986

If you are looking for a rich Irish setting, this novel ticks all the boxes: it is resplendent with beautifully detailed vistas and languorous sweeps across the lush countryside. But it is not only evocation of landscape and setting, the author also devotes herself to creating well rounded and well-developed characters who seem an integral part of the Irish landscape.

“It all began the day he found out that his sister was his mother”. The novel opens with these striking words – a phenomenon which is not as uncommon as one might think. Marlo arrives late from Croydon, into a different and beautiful world, and concurs with his mother that the scenery takes his breath away. It does.

He has a small and regular income writing for a newspaper in Butte, Montana but this really isn’t sufficient to sustain him. He picks up some work driving a bus, which of course is a grand vehicle (!) for introducing the colourful folk who live in the area. He comes into contact with Kitty and her son, Scully, who, on the one hand needs a high level of input from his mother as he has trouble speaking, yet on the other, there is more to him than meets the eye.

Threaded through the story is a second narrative set in the early 1600s, when the English were wreaking havoc in Ireland and this adds a real rich drama and contextual backdrop to the sense of place, the sense of tradition.

Notions of the folklore, of love, loss and belonging all pepper the narrative and it is a story that really is full of heart, with an overlay of otherworldliness (as yo might expect). This is well-penned storytelling for anyone who wants to connect with Ireland and enjoy an immersive dive into small community, emotionally charged dynamics. It is clear the author loves Ireland and through her words I feel like I have had a trip to the country.

[Xander Sable · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t remember when I last enjoyed a novel this much. Each sweeping bend in the bus-route through the Beara Peninsula, each vista Madhavan frames in photographic vividness unwinds with the same rhythm as her characters’ rolling turn of speech. What a sense of place, and of people.

Driving the bus is Marlo O’Sullivan, and as he reels from family upheaval, he finds local friends with such hospitality and quirky stories I wished they were neighbours I could call in on myself; I grieved and cheered with them, coveting Marlo’s unconventional pets all the while.
And running through her deftly-crafted observation of the 1980s community where kindness attracts kindness, Madhavan poignantly gifts a direct telling of the peninsula’s bloodier, brutal past to a little soul speaking out after four silent centuries. It’s a shiver down the book’s spine, and a wonderful addition to the gradual healing among Marlo’s family and friends that she handles so skilfully.

I really tried to read The Inheritance slowly, to prolong my stay and relish the visit, but as the secrets between generations and centuries spill into the light, I was inevitably up until the early hours for the last satisfying page. This is one for warming Autumn reading now the nights are growing darker… and like me, you might find yourself having a look for Beara Spring breaks.

[Miriam Morgans · Rating 3 out of 5]

꧁༒☬𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕴𝖓𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊☬༒꧂
By Cauvery Madhavan

Book overview
It's 1986, and 29-year-old Marlo O'Sullivan of London-Irish stock has just found out that his sister is his mother. To steady his life, he moves to Glengarriff, to a cottage he has inherited, in the stunning Beara Peninsula. When a neighbour dies unexpectedly, Marlo takes over his minibus service to Cork. There is nothing regular about the regulars on the bus - especially Sully, a non-verbal 6 year old, who goes nowhere but does the journey back and forth every day, on his own. Marlo lands with this strange but compassionate arrangement, fashioned to give the child's mother respite from his care. Sully's obsession with an imaginary friend in the ancient oak forests of Glengarriff slowly unveils its terrible secrets - a 400-hundred-year-old tragedy reveals itself.

⛓️ A link to a real piece of history
🇮🇪 Based in the rich Irish landscape
✍️ Lyrical tale of longing/identity
🕊 Finding Peace

This is an interesting tale, and if you enjoy lyrical Irish historical fiction, then this book is for you.

I enjoyed the tale, but I did guess what would come about at the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me! 🤓

[Chris Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Inheritance' is a delightful and thoroughly enjoyable read. Centre stage is Sully, the engaging child who doesn't speak. The bus is ingenious, driven once daily by an older farmer as a service to the rural regulars. Sully travels on the bus every day by way of childcare, with his backpack sandwich and two drinks (one for the way out and one for the way back), so that his devoted single mum can work. The regulars are devoted to him, too. But the driver dies suddenly.

Cue Marlo, who has recently moved into a remote cottage. Due to his affability, he steps in to drive the bus. Marlo's easy going attitude forms the mainstay of the narrative, along with the mystery of his parentage.

The parallel historical tale of another mute Sully, centuries ago, is powerful and moving. These minimal chapters are just enough to get the reader curious; I was fascinated by the historically accurate account of the 1602 Battle of Kinsale and appalled by the horrific slaughter.

The denouement is satisfying, and my only regret is that the book is finished, as I so enjoyed reading it.

[Fatguyreading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having spent a wonderful two week holiday in Ireland this year in August, I was looking forward to this read set Southwest Ireland, and it certainly lived up to my expectations.

It's a quirky tale as we follow Marlo, who takes on a bus route, and meets a mute 6 year old and his mother. As the story unfolds, secrets are uncovered, a 400 year old tragedy is revealed.

Want to know more? Be sure to pick your copy up.

So what we have here is a novel steeped In history, sense of community and some great banter.

It's a story of love and loss, acceptance, forgiveness and belonging.

It's engaging, and full of the culture and feel of the Irish people and it's a read that had my heart from the very beginning.

It's a beautifully descriptive read, and you'll really feel as though you're right there in Ireland, amongst the wonderful greenness of the forrests and valleys.

It's a novel that weaves the past and present seamlessly.

5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.

[Molly Bollier · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderfully pleasant surprise this was! I picked up The Inheritance at a bookshop in Dublin. I wanted to bring home novels by Irish writers I'd never heard of. I liked the premise of the book: a non-verbal child with a gift. I found the writing sharp and real. Madhavan uses Irish dialect in her prose, inserting the reader right into the scene. It is used sparingly, too, just enough not to slow the narration or exhaust the reader. Her characters are so well rendered, I could picture them clearly. The story is both propulsive and thoughtful, a wonderful balance between action and the cerebral. I most appreciated the present day narrative, but struggled with the connection to the distant past. It brought realistic fiction into a bit of fantasy, which is simply a matter of my reading tastes.
It was a joy to read and I'll look for more of Mahdavan's work.

[Lesley-Ann Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My last and possibly one of my favourite books of 2024.

Utterly charming, at times it was like being back in my late mother in laws kitchen.

A likeable cast each with their own story and no one seems superfluous. From Crow to the Bus passengers everyone has their part to play.

This is a feel good book, with some historical fiction, a love story (or two). And a wee bit of a ghost story thrown in.

And to top it all off there is the stunning descriptions of the beautiful wild Irish Landscape. What’s not to love ?

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we were in Ireland, Bobby chose this book for me because of the title. (Inside joke) The description sounded good too. When I started it, I was delighted to see a map illustration after the title page. It was the environment of Bantry Bay, County Cork - also known as the Beara Penninsula — the very place his maternal grandfather is from and generations behind him as well.

Besides this lovely coincidence, the book is heart-warming, the characters full and foibled, and the connections to ancient history exciting. Wonderful, wonderful!

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute, feelgood story. Kept me reading until the end...despite the poor editing that let this book down - from it's instead of its on page 5 (which is where I so very nearly gave up), via Vienetta instead of Viennetta, to the Historical Note at the end where we are filled in on the "Long March of O'Sullivan Beare" and told that the "Beara Brefine Way" follows the route of said march. I live on the BBW and can actually see it from my kitchen window, so I'd like to point out that it's the "Beara Breifne Way".

[Julie Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the central characters, I could hear their voices in my head and found them all immensely charming. Such a multitude of stories within a story. Beautiful, lyrical writing, I felt transported there. I was not aware of the bloody history of that part of Ireland, I found Cloichin's part of the story so sad.
A really enjoyable novel, best I've read in a while.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for my Irish Environmental Writing class and had the privilege of doing a writing workshop with Ms. Cauvery! A wonderfully engaging and sweet read with a lot of history. I had fun writing about and discussing it with my classmates! We were able to get really deep into thinking it through and I loved it.

[Brian Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captures the beauty of this part of Ireland really well and the sense of community too. The- will they, won't they -love story is made more interesting by splicing in a historical narrative (a sort of reincarnation theme with bloody masacres out on the islands) which I thought was so brooding and evocative.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely melding of stories. The lives of past and present blend together in this story of an Irish village. The characters and atmosphere are superb. I was fortunate to win a give away sponsored by Shawn Breathes Books.

[AnnavH · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the loveliest books I've read in a long time. These where the kind, genuine, main characters that I adore reading about. The love and research that went into this story is incredibly admirable. I would recommend this book to everyone.

[Michelle Crester · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky tp be given an advance copy. Beautiful storytelling, gripping, authentic, affirming. Great read, highly recommended.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up

[Cathy Burke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, nice read. Not a huge amount of drama but I enjoyed it.

[Carol Scheherazade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story of small town Ireland incorporating historical facts. Well researched and written. Sweet! Loved all the characters. A part 2 would be awesome

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great premise that was unevenly executed.