This is the life of Maura Murphy from her early days running wild in the Irish countryside, to her destructive marriage to a hard-working, hard-drinking womaniser, the birth of her nine children, and a life-or-death choice what would change her forever.

RELEASE NOTES:

Returned from holiday to find this waiting for me! Thank you very much for sending it, BookCrosser, I'm looking forward to reading it.

This is a detailed account of an Irish Catholic woman's experience of poverty and the limited opportunities available to her. Due to her adherence to the expectations of her Church and family, she had a life of constant pregnancy, childrearing and misery in a dysfunctional marriage. She and her husband exhibited total fecklessness as parents and I found parts of the book to be uncomfortable reading. The most interesting parts were those dealing with Maura's childhood and her work as a servant pre marriage. The endless listings of her husband's failings did not make enjoyable reading and one had to wonder why she put up with it after the kids were grown up.
The back cover claims the story is told with biting wit. In fact there was very little light relief in this book. However, I did enjoy Maura's successful effort to stop her husband calling her a c**t!
I wondered how she would justify this washing of the family's dirty linen in public and I don't think she really did. I guess it was all for the money! Maura died two years ago. I hope her children and grandchildren think that the money from the book was worth it all.

Picked this up at the Nov book crossing meet at the Tun in Edinburgh. Awaiting to be read, if anything like Angela's Ashes it will be a great read...

Read this pretty much in two sittings! It is a gripping read, and in my opinion a much better read than Angela's Ashes. It is the tale of a woman who spends a lifetime battle with poverty, both in childhood and in later life. Not only this, but it is also an indictment of how lives can be ruled by belief and how this subservience to a belief system can ruin lives.

There is nothing pretty about this book; it hits you right from the start and keeps on hitting you 'til the very last page. The book is, in every way, thought provoking, it is well written, infomative and, in my opinion, a must read...

Trigerfish comments:

"I wondered how she would justify this washing of the family's dirty linen in public and I don't think she really did. I guess it was all for the money! Maura died two years ago. I hope her children and grandchildren think that the money from the book was worth it all."

Personally I don't think that she needed to "justify this washing of the family's dirty linen in public" as I think that the book in itself is justification enough, especially if it helps others in a similar situation to take a good hard look at themselves...