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Ma, It's a Cold Aul Night an I'm Lookin for a Bed
 
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Ma, It's a Cold Aul Night an I'm Lookin for a Bed (Paperback)

by Martha Long (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
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Ma, It's a Cold Aul Night an I'm Lookin for a Bed + Ma, I'm Gettin Meself a New Mammy + Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes
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Product details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (3 Sep 2009)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1845965353
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845965358
  • Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,069 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #4 in  Books > Biography > Social & Health Issues > Cultural History > Irish
    #8 in  Books > Biography > Social & Health Issues > Child Abuse
    #43 in  Books > Biography > Historical > Countries & Regions > Europe

Product Description

Product Description

In the third installment of Martha Long's real-life account of abuse, deprivation and cruelty at the hands of her parents and the establishment, Martha is now sixteen, her time at the convent school is up. In "Ma, It's a Cauld Aul Night and I'm Lookin for a Bed", she leads us through her first months of freedom. With no friends or family to act as a safety net, Martha leaves the convent wearing a new set of clothes the nuns bought her, a suitcase with a second set of old clothes and a burning ambition to shake off her impoverished past. Hungry to become a person who will blend in with the middle classes, Martha yearns to be accepted as someone who can be loved, respected, and one day have a home of her own where she will be safe. But this is 1960s Dublin, where poverty is rife and the church works together with the Irish government to keep the poor and the ignorant in their place. Having been trained to work as a domestic by the nuns in the convent, Martha finds work as a skivvy, but finds that low pay and little free time is all she gets for her endeavors. This does not deter Martha. 'Life is a bowl of cherries!' she likes to think when the going is good. But further heartache awaits as people turn her away and predators await in the shadows.


About the Author

Martha Long was born in Dublin in the early 1950s and still lives there today. She calls herself a 'middle-aged matron' and has successfully reared three children.

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Customer Reviews

7 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars disappointed, 10 Sep 2009
By littlelibs (scotland) - See all my reviews
just read the latest instalment of marthas life to be honest i think this book could have been written in two chapters have read the other two and really enjoyed them but this was a let down for me and seemed to drag on about the same thing was really wanting to read more of charlie and her other siblings and of jackster i read this book in two days thinking i was going to find out more no doubt there will be another three or four books and we will find out.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Can't wait for the next installment, 26 Sep 2009
By M. Tierney (Ireland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The third installment of this amazing womens life. This book deals with Martha's life outside of the convent. A very entertaining read following some highs and some real low points in her first year or so of freedom. We are left wanting more - the end of the book whilst good is almost infuriating. Put it this way, if Martha doesn't write another book, and soon, I may have to hire a private detective, find out where she lives, kidnap her and make her tell me the rest of this amazing story!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A GOOD READ, 11 Sep 2009
I just love the way Martha tells her story, she is a brilliant writer, although it is very sad in parts, she has a great sense of humour that always shines through.
Life really is a bowel of cherries.

Please Martha if you read this, hurry up with your next book, cant wait to find out how she eventually gets herself of the streets, it has got to be one of the greatest sucess stories ever written, how anybody could pick themselves up from such a bad start in life is just unbelievable.

She is an inspiration to us all.

God Bless you Martha, you are my hero.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars martha long bk
Enjoyed other bks by this author. This not as good as first in series but very intresting. I love reading about the old Irish ways and people with the brilliant authentic dialect!
Published 25 days ago by Mrs. K. J. Barker

3.0 out of 5 stars Ma, It's a Cold Aul Night an I'm Lookin for a Bed
I was slightly disappointed with this book, but then it would be very hard to keep up the stabdard of Martha's previous work.
Published 1 month ago by H. A. Blackman

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT GOOD
Very unhappy with this book. Again waiting as most people to hear about Charlie etc. If that's what your looking for you wont find it in this book, unexceptable to drag this story... Read more
Published 1 month ago by woodpecker

5.0 out of 5 stars another fantastic installment but a real cliff hanger!!
this is yet another fantastic book by martha long, she is a natural story teller and i never get bored with the way that Martha writes, i wont spoil the book for those that havent... Read more
Published 2 months ago by mskittenheels

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