More Bread Or I'll Appear [Hardcover]

Emer Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 22, 1999

At high speed and with wicked humor, Emer Martin introduces us to a family unlike any other. Long after her husband is institutionalized, Molly moves her children from the west of Ireland to Dublin. She is following her eldest daughter Aisling --- her favorite, the beloved --- who is to attend college there. But one summer Aisling disappears. Fifteen years later, Molly persuades the youngest and most reliable of her five children, Keelin, to put her own life on hold to search for Aisling. Traveling the world with various of her siblings, Keelin learns that each is cursed with their father's affliction --- "the doubting disease," as they call it. In one way or another, each is paralyzed and compelled to perform irrational acts. In pursuit of her wild, elusive sister, whose personality defies categorization, Keelin takes on a hip and decadent Japan, a talk-show-worthy United States, and a surreal Central America. Many curious adventures, an uncertain reunion, and a stunning betrayal later, Keelin is forced to question the familial attachments that have always driven her. More Bread or I'll Appear casts a unique eye on the issues of gender, race, and class that are vital to contemporary culture. It is a story about family, an examination of the tyranny of genetic and emotional bonds.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Emer Martin's second novel is an emotional roller coaster with tracks laid across the entire planet, from Ireland to Japan to the United States to Central America. Keelin, the youngest of five children, is dispatched by her mother to find the eldest daughter, Aisling, who's been missing for over 15 years. Her journey forces her to confront the obsessive-compulsive behavior of herself and her siblings, who tag along for parts of the trip or monitor her progress from afar. The colorful cast of characters (including a gay priest and a Japanese transvestite) is sure to strike a chord with anyone who's ever felt like an outcast and wished he or she could build a separate world someplace else.

From Publishers Weekly

Irish author Martin's meandering second novel (after Breakfast in Babylon) traces the erratic intersection of five siblings in a middle-class Irish family as they try (and usually fail) to leave home and make their way in the wider world. Molly, the mother of the clan and a piano teacher by profession, separates from her mentally unstable husband and moves the family from West Ireland to Dublin, where her oldest daughter and favorite, Aisling, can attend college. Yet the capable "tiger-spirited" Aisling disappears in her early 20s, leaving a void in her wake. Meanwhile, patterns develop at a belabored pace among the other siblings: teenaged Orla becomes pregnant and is shipped off to New York by the family's benefactor, Uncle Oscar, the priest; Patrick, the only son, exhibits pious, obsessive compulsive behavior that mirrors his father's; Siobhan bounces among jobs in London and New York, growing increasingly anorexic; and Keelin, the youngest and the principal narrator, resigns herself to staying at home to care for her ailing mother, finding work as a teacher. It is not until 15 years after Aisling's disappearance, when most of the siblings are in their early 30s, that Molly persuades Keelin to try to track down her sister, who has been sighted variously in Japan, Hawaii, Mexico and Honduras. Keelin and one or another sister take off around the world, following elusive clues, usually in bars, in pursuit of Aisling. They learn a little about her: she dresses as a man, and sells sex to Japanese businessmen but seems to prefer women. When Keelin finally encounters her in a dreamlike scene on the beach, the real Aisling cannot measure up to the expectations the reader and her family have of her. Martin's prose has a strong rhythmic lilt and her characterization is sound, though unfocused; the voice of Keelin barely emerges from the chatter of her siblings. Although Martin seems to be exploring whatever defines the essential Irish spirit, the narrative drive weakens and is almost lost against the global cacophony of Keelin's picaresque journey.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; First Edition edition (January 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395918715
• ISBN-13: 978-0395918715
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,129,413 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Disturbing Tale of the Bonds of Family, June 11, 2000

By 

Elizabeth Hendry (New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: More Bread Or I'll Appear (Hardcover)

Emer Martin has crafted a tale of an Irish family that is as far from Norman Rockwell (or his Irish equivalent) as they come. More Bread or I'll Appear is the story of an Irish family and their quest for a missing sibling. Each family has his or her own demons to deal with. Molly, the mother is stuck in Ireland, too scared to venture out and look for her precious first-born, Aisling; Oscar, her twin brother, is a homosexual, alcoholic priest, living in terror that his secrets will be revealed; Siobhan is anorexic, Orla has never gotten over the baby she gave up for adoption, Patrick has no ambition and drug addict friends. Keelin, the youngest, is perhaps the only sibling with some semblance of a "normal" life. It is she that Molly convinces to embark on a devastating journey to locate her lost sister, who disappeared 15 years earlier, almost without a trace. Keelin, accompanied by various siblings at various points in the narrative, learns some disturbing truths about her sister, and the rest of her family, as she searches.

Martin writes with a sarcastic, twisted humor that keeps this novel from plunging into the depressing underbelly of humanity that Keelin discovers in her search for her sister. Keelin comes to understand that the one thing that ties her family together is also tearing it apart--the obsessive compusive disorder that sent her father to an asylum.

More Bread or I'll Appear is a disturbing novel, a unique novel, a funny novel. I don't think it is for the faint of heart. I enjoyed this novel, and would encourage any daring reader to discover the world of Keelin and her family.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely Fabulous, January 24, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: More Bread Or I'll Appear (Hardcover)

Having read Emer Martins first novel, Breakfast in Babylon, (which is highly recommended), I waited with baited breath for her next book. Follow up books from new authors can often be disappointing at the least, however, I was pleasantly suprised at the consistancy in Ms. Martin's talents as a young author. The story although tragic, is written with warmth and an understanding that is rarely seen in modern literature. There is greatness in this book and something for everybody.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, February 4, 2001

By 

"joe6830" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Bread or I'll Appear (Paperback)

Emer Martin has written one of the most interesting and engaging books I have read in years. The book is funny and intelligent, and the characters are vivid and unique. I would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to get a glimpse of the various corners of the world visited in this book from a very hip point of view.