Sister Agatha: The World's Oldest Serial Killer - Blarney Pulp Fiction by Domhnall O'Donoghue

Synopsis:
It is not secret that the Catholic Church in Ireland has taken a hard fall in the past few decades, plagued with sexual and monetary scandals. The films coming out of Ireland have been mostly depicting the church in the light of hypocrisy, deceit and conflict. After a while, every movement gets old, loses its cutting edge shock value and solicits more eye-rolls and gasps. That's when you know you need to shake things up and redirect the movement. Domhnall O'Donoghue takes the trend one step further in his novel "Sister Agatha: the World's Oldest Serial Killer". His title heroine, (nee Butsy Miller) is not some dour two-faced, child-beating embezzler. She's a serial killer - bent on becoming the oldest person in the world! The only way to achieve that status is to dispose of the four individuals ahead of her, who are scattered all over the world. It's an impulsive end-of-life desire to be "first". Aged 118, she is going through a teenage phase for the second time in her life.

The tone of the novel is that of bittersweet naughtiness. Its' marked by the same sharp, effortless eloquence one would expect from an Irish author. O'Donoghue lampoons Irish stereotypes and perpetuates them at the same time. As a wishy-washy Catholic like myself can certainly appreciate it. The novel is meant to tease and appease both who shamed the Catholic Church and try to exonerate it. 

My thoughts:
It is no secret that the Catholic Church in Ireland has taken a hard fall in the past few decades, plagued with sexual and monetary scandals. The films coming out of Ireland have been mostly depicting the church in the light of hypocrisy, deceit and conflict. After a while, every movement gets old, loses its cutting edge shock value and solicits more eye-rolls and gasps. That's when you know you need to shake things up and redirect the movement. Domhnall O'Donoghue takes the trend one step further in his novel "Sister Agatha: the World's Oldest Serial Killer". His title heroine, (nee Butsy Miller) is not some dour two-faced, child-beating embezzler. She's a serial killer - bent on becoming the oldest person in the world! The only way to achieve that status is to dispose of the four individuals ahead of her, who are scattered all over the world. It's an impulsive end-of-life desire to be "first". Aged 118, she is going through a teenage phase for the second time in her life.

The tone of the novel is that of bittersweet naughtiness. Its' marked by the same sharp, effortless eloquence one would expect from an Irish author. O'Donoghue lampoons Irish stereotypes and perpetuates them at the same time. As a wishy-washy Catholic like myself can certainly appreciate it. The novel is meant to tease and appease both who shamed the Catholic Church and try to exonerate it.