A Greyhound of a Girl
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Product Description
Product Description
The best-ever children's novel from the brilliant Roddy Doyle is a funny, sad story about four generations of a family. 12 year old Mary O'Hara's beloved, joke-cracking grandmother is near the end of her life. Letting go is hard - until a mysterious young woman appears at Mary's door. She is the ghost of Granny's long-dead mammy and her mission is to help her dying daughter say goodbye to the ones she loves. But first she needs someone to drive them all to the old family farm for a visit to the past. A GREYHOUND OF A GIRL is a perfectly-pitched, sharp and tender tale of familyistory, cracking characters, and bonds between mothers and daughters that will entrance readers from 10 to adult.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I wasn't sure at first what to make of this book - Roddy Doyle writing from the point of view of four women, one of them a ghost? However, I went on to devour it in two sittings!
The writing is simple and direct, dealing with the big themes of life - love, loss and death - with humour, and without sugary sentimentality. This book could easily have got mawkish, and it is one of its strengths that all life changes - death, puberty, friends leaving - are dealt with in a very matter of fact way. The humour is subtle, the language fresh and up to date and the characters charming.
This book, although aimed at young teenagers, has a lot for adults to enjoy and take away. If a young person you know is struggling to come to terms with a bereavement, it would be a good book to recommend, but it is much more than an "issue" book.
The writing is simple and direct, dealing with the big themes of life - love, loss and death - with humour, and without sugary sentimentality. This book could easily have got mawkish, and it is one of its strengths that all life changes - death, puberty, friends leaving - are dealt with in a very matter of fact way. The humour is subtle, the language fresh and up to date and the characters charming.
This book, although aimed at young teenagers, has a lot for adults to enjoy and take away. If a young person you know is struggling to come to terms with a bereavement, it would be a good book to recommend, but it is much more than an "issue" book.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I am quite a fan of Roddy Doyle's work. Ever since he came to my attention in 1993 when he won the booker prize for 'Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha', I have made a point of seeking out all of his novels. Many people might know him as the author of 'The Commitments', which was part of his Barrytown Trilogy.
Doyle's work has an instant Irish feel about it, born as he was in Dublin. His writing style relies very much on the vocabulary of his characters, using local slang and sometimes coarse language to convey the personalities of the people he writes about.There is always an authenticity to his work, which often deals with the uglier side of society whilst projecting the human side of the people in his novels.
'A Greyhound Of A Girl' is the first of his novels for children that I have read. The style is typical Roddy Doyle, but the language is softened in line with the reader age it is aimed at. I am uncertain of the age group this is written for, but I found it absorbing enough to read as an adult, dealing as it does with dark themes such as death, aging and regret. Yet through it all, there is a tenderness and understanding of unconditional parental love and the eternal impact it can have on each generation.
The main character, Mary, is 12 and struggling to come to terms with the departure of her best friend (she moved house) and the inevital death of her seriously ill Grandmother. When the ghost of her Great-Grandmother appears to her, she comes to realise that change and loss is a part of life, and that it is the everyday things we take for granted that can sometimes matter most.
The narrative moves back and forth through time, each part highlighting one of the 4 main characters and their experience of life. At times funny, and other times moving, I found it to be both sensitive and insightful....and I would certainly recommend it both for older children and adults too.
Doyle's work has an instant Irish feel about it, born as he was in Dublin. His writing style relies very much on the vocabulary of his characters, using local slang and sometimes coarse language to convey the personalities of the people he writes about.There is always an authenticity to his work, which often deals with the uglier side of society whilst projecting the human side of the people in his novels.
'A Greyhound Of A Girl' is the first of his novels for children that I have read. The style is typical Roddy Doyle, but the language is softened in line with the reader age it is aimed at. I am uncertain of the age group this is written for, but I found it absorbing enough to read as an adult, dealing as it does with dark themes such as death, aging and regret. Yet through it all, there is a tenderness and understanding of unconditional parental love and the eternal impact it can have on each generation.
The main character, Mary, is 12 and struggling to come to terms with the departure of her best friend (she moved house) and the inevital death of her seriously ill Grandmother. When the ghost of her Great-Grandmother appears to her, she comes to realise that change and loss is a part of life, and that it is the everyday things we take for granted that can sometimes matter most.
The narrative moves back and forth through time, each part highlighting one of the 4 main characters and their experience of life. At times funny, and other times moving, I found it to be both sensitive and insightful....and I would certainly recommend it both for older children and adults too.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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Well written, with anecdotal descriptions which make the characters warm and likable:
Mary, not far off being a teenager who is feeling bereft after her best friend moves house to another part of Dublin;
Mary's mother Scarlet who talks in exclamation marks, "Even your whispers end in !!!s"
Emer, Mary's grandmother, remembering how her own grandmother used to 'worry the food' at the range and
Tansey, Mary's great-grandmother who full of vibrancy and life succumbs to the flu at the age of 25.
Doyle has a talent for voicing very realistic children's thoughts. He brings the story alive with his descriptions of the farmyard, the broken 'hegg' and the tender relationship between a child and her mother and grandmother.
It was an interesting idea and one that might well appeal to anyone who is missing a loved one. Although the message was that everyone is 'somewhere' and that death itself necessarily 'the end' the book was pleasantly lacking in religion as an explanation.
Mary, not far off being a teenager who is feeling bereft after her best friend moves house to another part of Dublin;
Mary's mother Scarlet who talks in exclamation marks, "Even your whispers end in !!!s"
Emer, Mary's grandmother, remembering how her own grandmother used to 'worry the food' at the range and
Tansey, Mary's great-grandmother who full of vibrancy and life succumbs to the flu at the age of 25.
Doyle has a talent for voicing very realistic children's thoughts. He brings the story alive with his descriptions of the farmyard, the broken 'hegg' and the tender relationship between a child and her mother and grandmother.
It was an interesting idea and one that might well appeal to anyone who is missing a loved one. Although the message was that everyone is 'somewhere' and that death itself necessarily 'the end' the book was pleasantly lacking in religion as an explanation.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Tender and sweet, and sharp and sassy...
Aimed primarily at young adult market, A Greyhound of a Girl is a little book with big values. With poignant simplicity Roddy Doyle covers the themes of love, loss and death in... Read more
Published 2 months ago by jaffareadstoo
Generations of mothers and their daughters
This short novel by the fine Irish writer Roddy Doyle is written for teens, but I thoroughly enjoyed it on an adult level too...
Mary O'Hara is twelve. Read more
Mary O'Hara is twelve. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Annabel Gaskell
a wonderful mother and daughter book
My 9-year-old daughter and I read this together - not out loud but in our heads - and we both laughed at the wonderful funny bits and enjoyed the same things. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Becky P
The Long Road Home
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and saw his first novel, "The Commitments" published in 1987. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Craobh Rua
Beautiful and haunting.
I absolutely loved this book. It's a slim volume so I was expecting to be underawed by a lightweight story but this book is utterly amazing. Read more
Published 12 months ago by debbie8355
Very glad I read it - this is a story that will stay with me for a...
Roddy Doyle's children's book, which the blurb says is suitable from ages 10 to adult, deals with some big themes but it's by far from a heavy or tricky story. Read more
Published 12 months ago by rachelcreative
A lovely read for adults and children.
This is a lovely heart warming story. It is written straightforwardly so that it is an easy read for all ages.The story does not come across as make believe. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Susie Q
Sad and joyful all mixed up together
We are a huge fan of Roddy Doyle's work in our family. My children love The Giggler Treatment and Rover Saves Christmas, and I have enjoyed all of his novels for adults. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
pure Roddy Doyle... for all ages
Already being a firm fan of Roddy Doyle, i was expecting a good read, and i was not disappointed. This a a fantastic book for all ages; it deals with the issues of death and dying,... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Colliesaluki
Doyle's most enjoyable book in a long time
I'm a fan of Roddy Doyle's fiction but his last few books have been a bit dreary - worthy, but dreary. I've missed his sparkling dialogue, humour and warmth. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Peter Lee
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