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Review
'A sharp eye for detail that makes reading Boylan's work such a pleasure' SUNDAY TIMES 'This enchanting book, so evocative of the moods and sensations of childhood has the bite of pure gold' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Witty ... beautifully written' MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Boylan writes like an angel, but an angel with a knowing eye' DAILY MAIL 'Love, pain and Dickensian dottiness. As ever, Boylan is like the sun coming out.' SPEACTATOR 'An enormously entertaining and involving novel.' IRISH TIMES 'This is lemon-eyed and luscious writing, subtle, oblique, poetic, hilarious, absolutely original. But the talent for local colour, that vivid image, the quirky ear, the olfactory evocativeness, is merely how she approaches the proper concern of the top-class prose writer- an intesne and insatiable curiosity about the lives of other people.' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'As 1950s Dublin slowly moves away from ghastly fashions, tight perms and rigid conduct towards a brighter, freer society, Boylan's prose captures the transition perfectly.' NEW WOMAN 'Boylan has captured the harsh process of growing up- its misunderstandings and sense of irredeemably arrested development- with deadly accuracy.' TIME OUT 'Boylan spins her fable with graceful realism, and is painfully good on the horrors and resiliences of loneliness.' GUARDIAN
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
DAILY TELEGRAPH
'This enchanting book, so evocative of the moods and sensations of childhood has the bite of pure gold'
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Set in Ireland. With overbearing Father out of work and overburdened Mother struggling to cope, the three daughters grapple with their teenage growing pains within the constraints of a strict sheltered upbringing.With no money for food, Father decides he will have to rent out the spare room, but only to single females, the sisters observe with fascination as a stream of lodgers follow - each with very different personalities,lives and varying amounts of influence over the three girls.The whole family become very attached to,and intertwined with some of them, and the story also follows the fortunes of some after they have gone on their way.
Father will not let go of his strict moral code throughout and his views that 'women don't work' or 'go to university' and are there to 'look after husband and home', whilst long-suffering Mother will not abandon her adamance that a woman should retain finer pursuits such as art,that keep her spirit alive.
An enjoyable gentle book about ordinary lives and struggles - written in a quaint style with a certain kind of charm and innocence.I liked it immensely.So many books do not live up to their back-cover synopses,or reviews, and leave you a little drained or depressed.This book seemed just right - being uplifting in its honesty and innocence.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Loved it! I cried when I finished it as I wanted it to go on and on. A simple story of innocence in 50's Ireland but one that everyone can aquaint with whatever age they are. It tells the story of a girl and her family who have hit hard times and of the lodgers that they are forced to take in to earn money to survive. These lodgers shape their lives and their destinys. A fantastic book. I sm now going to read her others.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Sometimes you shouldn't judge a book by the blurb on the cover - or the synopsis from book sites. It would be very easy to pick this up and read... 'Ireland, in the 50s, a poor family, making ends meet'... and assume that it's going to be all gloom and doom, with a brutal father, a brow beaten mother and some poor whimpering children.
Well, think again. I was delighted by this wonderfully written novel. It made me laugh out loud so many times at the escapades of the family.
With a father who is quite honestly, work-shy and a mother who has her head in the clouds and three wonderfully funny daughters, this is a joy to read. Once the decision has been made to let out the spare room to a suitable single lady - the fun begins and a procession of strange and colourful characters take up residence in the household.
With flashes of pure innocence - the scene where the two youngest daughters investigate the new invention - Tampax, is so funny that I thought about it and chuckled for days afterwards.
I am determined that I will now read everything that Clare Boylan wrote. I was very sad to learn that she died aged 58 in 2006 after suffering with cancer - a real loss.
Well, think again. I was delighted by this wonderfully written novel. It made me laugh out loud so many times at the escapades of the family.
With a father who is quite honestly, work-shy and a mother who has her head in the clouds and three wonderfully funny daughters, this is a joy to read. Once the decision has been made to let out the spare room to a suitable single lady - the fun begins and a procession of strange and colourful characters take up residence in the household.
With flashes of pure innocence - the scene where the two youngest daughters investigate the new invention - Tampax, is so funny that I thought about it and chuckled for days afterwards.
I am determined that I will now read everything that Clare Boylan wrote. I was very sad to learn that she died aged 58 in 2006 after suffering with cancer - a real loss.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Nice book - but nothing amazing..
Given this book as a present. This is the story of a family in Ireland in the 50's who are short on money so take in lodgers to make ends meet. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Louise Mathema
Ok, but nothing special
I was expecting to love this book. It's a family story set in 1950s Dublin and is a sort of 'slice of life' story. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2009 by Nicola
GROWING PAINS REMEMBERED
Take Dublin in the early fifties, add a family of three growing girls, mix in a procession of eccentric lodgers, whose purpose is to fend off the parents' poverty, and you have a... Read more
Published on 26 Oct 2008 by Barry McCanna
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