Nearing her one-hundredth birthday, Roseanne McNulty faces an uncertain future, as the Roscommon Regional Mental hospital where she's spent the best part of her adult life prepares for closure. Over the weeks leading up to this upheaval, she talks often with her psychiatrist Dr Grene, and their relationship intensifies and complicates. Told through their respective journals, the story that emerges is at once shocking and deeply beautiful. Refracted through the haze of memory and retelling, Roseanne's story becomes an alternative, secret history of Ireland's changing character and the story of a life blighted by terrible mistreatment and ignorance, and yet marked still by love and passion and hope.
The Secret Scripture
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Amazon Review
The acclaim that has greeted Sebastian Barry’s The Secret Scripture is varied and enthusiastic, and it's not hard to see why. When Frank McGuiness praised it for ‘raw, rough beauty’ and described Sebastian Barry's fiction as ‘unique’ and ‘magnificent’, this claim was no hostage to fortune; just a few sentences of the prose here will convince most readers of the justice of those words. As in the best-selling A Long Long Way, Barry is concerned with the imperatives of telling a story, but in a literary form that is rich with both psychological understanding and a skilful conjuring of time and place.
Roseanne McNulty may (or may not) be on the point of nearing her 100th birthday -- but there is little certainty about this fact. In her twilight years, her destiny is uncertain, as the Roscommon Mental Hospital -- her home for so many years of her life -- is on the point of closing. As the fateful hour approaches, Roseanne spends her time of talking to her psychiatrist of many years, Dr Grene. The relationship between the two is strangely interdependent, and the doctor is also attempting to come to terms with the death of his wife. As we learn more about the two principal protagonists, we are presented with a rich and subtle picture of human relationships -- and the (often unintentional) damages that we all do to each other.
The form of the book consists of the separate journals of Roseanne and Dr Grene, and we gradually learn about Roseanne’s family in Sligo in the 1930s. What emergence is a poignant personal history; it is also a subtly ambitious picture of nothing less than the Irish psyche at a particular point in its history. There are echoes here of another great Irish chronicler of the human condition, William Trevor, and The Secret Scripture is no worse for that. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'Barry was shortlisted for the 2005 Booker with A Long Long Way and, if there is any justice, can expect an equally strong showing this year.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'Exceptionally finely written ... [It] assembles a disquieting portrait of a woman destroyed by politics and misogyny.' -- Daily Telegraph
'In Roseanne McNulty - sly, confused, defiant, passionate - Sebastian Barry has created one of the most memorable narrators in recent fiction.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'It's a story to treasure, and Roseanne is a teller to remember.'
-- The Times
'Magnificent and heart-rending.'
-- Joseph O'Connor, Guardian
'One of the first great novels of this century.' -- Evening Herald
'The Secret Scripture is not at all like its illustrious predecessor but is equally powerful and memorable. It confirms that Sebastian Barry is at the forefront of contemporary Irish fiction.' -- Matthew Sweeney, Financial Times
'This is a superb book about memory and conflicting versions of the past.' -- Dermot Bolger, Mail on Sunday (Ireland)
'[A] magnificent and heart-rending novel ... Roseanne and Dr Grene, though hardly ever described, are incarnated with such commitment and narrative astuteness that you feel you are standing in the rain of their lives.' -- Joseph O'Connor, Guardian
'Exceptionally finely written ... [It] assembles a disquieting portrait of a woman destroyed by politics and misogyny.' -- Daily Telegraph
'In Roseanne McNulty - sly, confused, defiant, passionate - Sebastian Barry has created one of the most memorable narrators in recent fiction.' -- Sunday Telegraph
'It's a story to treasure, and Roseanne is a teller to remember.'
-- The Times
'Magnificent and heart-rending.'
-- Joseph O'Connor, Guardian
'One of the first great novels of this century.' -- Evening Herald
'The Secret Scripture is not at all like its illustrious predecessor but is equally powerful and memorable. It confirms that Sebastian Barry is at the forefront of contemporary Irish fiction.' -- Matthew Sweeney, Financial Times
'This is a superb book about memory and conflicting versions of the past.' -- Dermot Bolger, Mail on Sunday (Ireland)
'[A] magnificent and heart-rending novel ... Roseanne and Dr Grene, though hardly ever described, are incarnated with such commitment and narrative astuteness that you feel you are standing in the rain of their lives.' -- Joseph O'Connor, Guardian
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
182 of 193 people found the following review helpful
By hbw
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Roseanne McNulty is an old, old lady. Most of her life has been spent in mental institutions. As the book opens, no-one is really sure how old she is, why she was committed to an institution in the first place and whether she still needs to be in one (if she ever did).
The hospital where she now lives is due to close and psychiatrist William Grene has to decide what should happen to her. Official records are either missing or so scant as to make the old lady seem little more than a ghost.
But Roseanne has not always been a ghost: she was once a little girl; a young woman; a wife; a mother. This flesh and blood Roseanne is preserved in the "secret scripture", a hand written account of her early life kept hidden beneath a loose floorboard in her room. So whilst Dr Grene follows the sparse clues left by what remains of her in the outside world, the reader gets to hear Roseanne's story in her own words.
This is a masterful exploration of the way in which place, time and circumstance can impact on the lives of ordinary people. In this case the place is the West of Ireland and the time is the Irish Civil War and its aftermath. Roseanne's circumstances are that she is female and the daughter of a Protestant father and a mentally unstable mother.
Despite its background, this book is not about the use of institutions as a means of social control in Ireland (or anywhere else) and readers who are expecting something along those lines may be disappointed.
The writing and characterisation are firmly in the 5 star bracket, but the denouement will have you tearing your hair out, so 4 stars overall.
Nevertheless, a good read. This was my first Sebastian Barry and it inspired me to read more.
The hospital where she now lives is due to close and psychiatrist William Grene has to decide what should happen to her. Official records are either missing or so scant as to make the old lady seem little more than a ghost.
But Roseanne has not always been a ghost: she was once a little girl; a young woman; a wife; a mother. This flesh and blood Roseanne is preserved in the "secret scripture", a hand written account of her early life kept hidden beneath a loose floorboard in her room. So whilst Dr Grene follows the sparse clues left by what remains of her in the outside world, the reader gets to hear Roseanne's story in her own words.
This is a masterful exploration of the way in which place, time and circumstance can impact on the lives of ordinary people. In this case the place is the West of Ireland and the time is the Irish Civil War and its aftermath. Roseanne's circumstances are that she is female and the daughter of a Protestant father and a mentally unstable mother.
Despite its background, this book is not about the use of institutions as a means of social control in Ireland (or anywhere else) and readers who are expecting something along those lines may be disappointed.
The writing and characterisation are firmly in the 5 star bracket, but the denouement will have you tearing your hair out, so 4 stars overall.
Nevertheless, a good read. This was my first Sebastian Barry and it inspired me to read more.
45 of 48 people found the following review helpful
By M. FOLAN
Format:Paperback
I have just finished this book and found it a brilliant read. As an ordinary reader, I sometimes find Booker prize winners heavy going but this one gripped me from the start. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a work of fiction and not a true story. However, it is true in the sense that this kind of thing used to happen in Ireland and not that long ago. Roseanne's story would break your heart for all those poor people who ended up in asylums because nobody wanted them or they were an embarassment to their family. Would recommend this excellent book to anyone.
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
By Taiga Bright
Format:Paperback
Barry's prose is simply gorgeous, his manner of expression is poetic and tactile and I finished the book because I got caught up in his words as much as his tale. That said, the plot is also superb until the denouement, which is so trite I almost felt cheated by its convenience...but that prose drew me back in. For a painful and difficult book with such strong and well-defined characters I think the reader could have coped with an incomplete, or even broken and unsettling ending. You could argue that this is indeed the case depending on how you see things, but I felt I'd gone from reading a truly credible and important novel to reading the plot of a television movie. Definitely worth reading though. With a box of tissues.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book
Reasonable condition, prompt service! Still reading it but so far really enjoying this book! Now have to fill in with some words!
Published 6 days ago by Brenda B
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Half-Hidden Life
Sebastian Barry's 'breakthrough' book is the story of Roseanne Clear, who has been confined to a mental hospital for sixty years for unspecified reasons. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Kate Hopkins
3.0 out of 5 stars
whimsy
Interesting mixture of psychiatry, whimsy and rural Irish history. Some lovely expressions and curious ideas. Well worth reading for relaxation
Published 1 month ago by Richard Mayon-White
4.0 out of 5 stars
slow burner
I purchased this book as a book club read. found it very interesting and beautifully written but a bit slow and lengthy. in places. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Alyson Chilvers
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love this book
The writing is lyrical - softly descriptive with a beautiful rhythm. The story unfurls like a rose bud slowly opening to full bloom. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Hege Usborne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent service.
I chose this rating because the book arrived promptly and in excellent condition. I would certainly recommend this bookseller to all my fellow readers.
Published 3 months ago by Honor Brown Honor Brown.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book
Lovely book - loved the family aspect throughout the book. Ending was a bit too predictable but we'll written and developed overall.
Published 3 months ago by Elizabeth Cole
4.0 out of 5 stars
Th€ Secret Scripture
I found this book a very good read, though I'm not sure I would call it enjoyable. It took me a chapter or two to get into it and I was completely surprised by the ending - I... Read more
Published 4 months ago by I M Young
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Secret Scripture
The Secret Scripture. Really enjoyed this good rounded story i like the way the two stories link together.My first Sebastian Barry would read more
Published 4 months ago by bridget wilson
4.0 out of 5 stars
nicely written
I enjoyed this book principally for it's prose. Those reviewers disappointed with the ending should not view this as some kind of whodunnit or mystery cliche. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Josey Wales
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