Munster Express book review of ‘Thursdays Child’ by Liz McCue

Between The Lines.. Liam Murphy Reporter at Munster Express newspaper Waterford.

2 October 2018

With the encouragement and support of Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the Renal Dialy­sis Unit at University Hospi­tal Waterford, a patient, Liz McCue, was able to write the book: Thursday’s Child – Stories of Survival from a Feisty Renal Warrior As the nursery rhyme goes: ” Thursday’s Child has far to go” and McCue’s story details a journey from her mother working in Jacob’s biscuit factory, mints and rela­tives working in the Guinness Estate in Castleknock, to trou­bled teenage years in England having to cope with kidney problems and a dysfunctional family in the throes of poverty and alcohol addiction: to a renal dependency back in Ireland.

The subject may seem dismal and despondent but Liz McCue has a warrior nature and a searing sense of humour about dealing with extended family life, its joys, and disappoint­ments, chronic ill-health and neglect as well as heartache and fears.

There was singing and dancing, parties and shinning down drainpipes to find love, excitement, some disappoint­ment but most of all a difficult acceptance and coming to terms with renal dialysis in its various forms as medical attitudes changed and developed.

The book made me angry as to how people were mar­ginalised, ignored, cast aside, and how families and small communities were supportive and mostly non-judgmental. I could have cried at passages and set-backs but Liz McCue or Lizzybits she is known on social media has a charming and disarming style of writing. I was born on a Saturday (‘works hard for a living’).

Liz McCue will feature at the Copper Coast Literary weekend, November 1st to 4th that celebrates creativity and culture. It will involve school children in projects. There will be a ‘six-word challenge’ – a story in six words. The Geopark Visitor Centre will be central to much of this festival and it will host the Book Fair with self-published authors, geological books, specialist books, and second-hand books.