Published in 2022, Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses is an adult historical fiction novel. The story unfolds during the 1970s in a town near Belfast, a city deeply divided by the sectarian violence of the Northern Ireland conflict, commonly known as “the Troubles.” The protagonist, Cushla Lavery, is a young Catholic schoolteacher. Her quiet life takes a turn when she embarks on a risky and passionate affair with Michael Agnew, a married Protestant barrister who is involved in defending Irish Republic Army (IRA) suspects. As their relationship develops, Cushla finds herself navigating a complex web of societal expectations, religious divides, and personal desires. The novel, which explores themes of violence, relationships, and ethical dilemmas, won the McKitterick Prize and was named the Novel of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards and the British Book Awards Book of the Year for Debut Fiction.

Citations in this study guide refer to the e-book edition released by Riverhead Books in 2022. Kennedy made the stylistic choice not to place quotation marks around dialogue, so this guide uses the author’s original spacing to indicate when the speaker changes within a quotation.

Content Warning: This guide describes and discusses the novel’s treatment of wartime violence, homicide, and alcohol addiction.

Plot Summary

The novel begins in 2015. Cushla Lavery visits a museum, where she sees a sculpture depicting a man who was murdered during the Troubles. Cushla knew the man intimately. The narrative moves back in time to the 1970s. Cushla teaches seven- and eight-year-old children at St. Dallan’s school. She and Michael Agnew meet when he comes to her family’s pub, where she sometimes works with her brother, Eamonn. Later that night, her mother, Gina, informs her that Michael is a barrister and has a wife and a son. The next afternoon, Michael returns to the pub in the hope of seeing Cushla, but she has to stay home and tend to her mother, who has an alcohol addiction. Cushla goes to a party with a fellow teacher named Gerry Devlin the following Saturday. Although she doesn’t have romantic feelings for Gerry, she continues seeing him to ease the loneliness of her father’s death and living with her melancholy mother. On one of their dates, she sees Michael for the second time, and he asks if she would consider teaching him Irish. During the first Irish conversation night she attends, Cushla feels self-conscious among Michael’s elegant, wealthy friends. When he takes her home, they share their first kiss, and he says that he will try to see her as often as his complicated circumstances allow.

One day, one of Cushla’s students, a boy named Davy McGeown, is absent because his father was brutally attacked. Davy’s father, Seamie McGeown, was targeted because he is a Catholic married to a Protestant. Cushla and her mother bring the family some food and stop the man’s teenage son, Tommy, from fighting with some youths who antagonize him. Cushla begins to resent being Michael’s mistress. On Good Friday, she meets Michael at his flat, and they have sex for the first time. Cushla and Gerry continue spending time together because, although they don’t have romantic feelings for each other, they enjoy one another’s company. When Michael becomes jealous, Cushla firmly reminds him that she has to live with the uncertainty of never knowing where he is or when she’ll see him again. Michael and Cushla’s affair continues, and she feels as though he expects her to drop everything at a moment’s notice for him. Cushla’s second Irish conversation night is a disaster because Michael’s friend, Victor, makes cruel remarks about Catholics to Cushla. Victor is angry at the barrister because Michael recently took a case involving three boys accused of murdering a constable.

Seamie McGeown returns home, and his injuries distress Cushla. That night, Michael tries to comfort her at his flat and tells her that he loves her for the first time, but she doesn’t say it back because she feels that she has put more effort into their relationship thus far. Michael takes Cushla on a weekend trip to Dublin. Although she is happy, she wishes that their relationship could be more than an affair. The headmaster of St. Dallan’s despises the McGeowns and reports the mother to social services to punish Cushla for trying to help them. When Cushla returns home from school, she finds her mother intoxicated and injured and locates many empty gin bottles hidden around their home. She calls her brother to share her concerns about their mother, but he hangs up on her. The injustices that Michael sees in his career as a barrister weigh upon him and lead him to drink heavily, drawing the concern of Cushla and his friends. Michael gives her a key to his flat and tells her that she is always welcome there. On the day of her students’ First Communion, Cushla begins to rebuild the McGeowns’ trust in her, and Gina invites Gerry to dinner. While Gerry is willing to cover for Cushla and pretend that they’re in a romantic relationship, he worries about the trouble she might get into if rumors about her spread.

During a visit to a seaside resort with Gina, Cushla runs into Michael, his wife, Joanna, and their son, Dermot. Meeting Michael’s wife for the first time makes Cushla see their relationship in a new light, and she agonizes over her growing certainty that he will have other mistresses after her. Cushla and Michael argue about his wife but decide to stay together even though Cushla fears that their relationship is doomed to end badly. The next morning, Michael is shot dead in his bed. Cushla learns the news at the pub. Distraught, she tells her brother about their relationship, and he forces her to get back to work so that no one will suspect they were together.

After leaving the pub, Cushla drinks with Gina and listens to her reminisce about Michael. She calls in sick the next day and misses the last day of school. Cushla drives to Michael’s house, which is surrounded by police, and spends the night at Gerry’s home because she cannot bear to listen to her mother talk about Michael’s death. The next morning, she visits the McGeowns, and Tommy expresses interest in dating her now that she is no longer teaching his little brother. Cushla, Gina, and Eamonn attend Michael’s funeral. Afterward, the police arrest Tommy, and an angry Protestant mob sets the McGeowns’ home ablaze. Cushla saves Davy from the burning building and takes the McGeowns to her house. The next morning, Tommy is charged with the murder, and an enraged Eamonn demands that Cushla send the McGeowns away. She takes them to one of their relatives.

Three days later, the police question Cushla, believing that she is the connection between Michael and Tommy. She maintains her innocence but later begins to question if there is some truth to the officer’s claims. Later that day, the school’s headmaster fires Cushla for offering the McGeowns shelter. Cushla spends the next month in a state of grief, but her mother encourages her to go on with her life. Davy and his sister are placed in foster care. Tommy is convicted of Michael’s murder and is sentenced to life in prison. He met the barrister by chance and mistook him for a judge. The pub is bombed because of the Laverys’ connection to the McGeowns, and Cushla and her family decide to move away from their fractured hometown.

The narrative moves forward to 2015. Cushla and Davy reunite by chance at the sculpture of Michael. Cushla is married with three children and four grandchildren. She tenderly touches the hand of Michael’s sculpture and then continues to explore the museum with Davy.