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Gomorrah
I wrote this book nearly twenty years ago and then, after a couple of rejections, put it in a drawer. My husband affectionately called it my "horrid novel" but I always liked it and eventually pulled it out, dusted it down and sent it to a publisher who verbally agreed to publish it. Since I said I would like some pictures to go with it, he also commissioned all those wonderful illustrations. But beware of smiling publishers who don't put things into writing: a verbal agreement, as Sam Goldwyn said, isn't worth the paper it's written on. He decided after a year not to go ahead with the project so I set up Fairground Press and published it myself. Copies can be ordered via the website www.fairgroundpress.com but meanwhile, here's a taster from the opening section of the book: |
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The Invisible Woman
The themes here are the unreliability of memory, self-deception, alienation and waste. |
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Grimaldi's Garden
The contemporary Dublin of the novel is full of people whose lives need from time to time a touch of the magic of Grimaldi's Garden: Francis, the librarian who aspires for something other than his wife's varnished lifestyle, Sonya, the waif-like actress who wants to study the Commedia del Arte, Ruth, the tolerant, talented artist with a special child, the idiot savant Hannah, and many others whose lives touch theirs. |
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Where the Grass is Greener Voices of Immigrant Women in Ireland
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The Last Day The Last Day is a novel I wrote in the late nineties and for which, despite the best efforts of my agent, no publisher has been found. Responses were generally encouraging, of the "after due consideration and with regret we find we cannot fit it into our list" order. "Charming" and "slight" were other comments, both of which, I feel, missed the point. Personally, I am very fond of this piece, a cross between Under Milk Wood and The Book of Revelation, with that salty flavour of north Dublin often associated with Roddy Doyle, and where I lived for ten years. You can judge for yourselves, as I have decided to include the whole novel here for you to read. Download The Last Day in Word or PDF formats.
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No, not the notorious investigation of the Neapolitan Camorra, whose
author was and maybe still is in hiding from the wrath incurred by his book,
but a blackly comic fantasy fable of modern times, with astonishing
illustrations by Marta Wakuła. Gomorrah is set in an unnamed city after
the sun goes into hiding, when under cover of darkness all manner of menacing
forces are unleashed and corruption creeps from the shadows, where a woman
searches for a lost child, a self-serving policeman tries to eat his way to
comfort and a sinister underworld boss pulls nearly all the strings.
Lucy
sits in her room remembering. Abandoned as a baby, most of her life
has been taken up with a quest for her mother. Through free association,
she gradually builds up a picture of her life. And stripping away
the false memories and lies that have formed the foundation of her
existence, she finally has to face up to some terrible truths.
The
Grimaldi of the title was father to perhaps the greatest clown of
all time, Joey. When Signor Grimaldi came from Italy to London'to
work at Drury Lane Theatre he missed the colour and sunshine of
his native country so much that he filled a grey winter garden with
artificial flowers.
This
book is a remarkable collection of personal interviews with women
from all over the world who have chosen Ireland as their home. Some
have been there for decades, others are part of the wave of recent
arrivals. Some came to be with their Irish husbands or partner,
others came on their own personal reasons. Taken together, their
fascinating life stories provide a rare and welcome glimpse into
what it means to be an outsider in a foreign land
