This book is a haunting story of Roseanne McNulty who is an elderly woman. She has lived quietly in a mental hospital for
many years. She, perhaps nearing her one-hundredth birthday - no one is quite sure - faces an uncertain future, as the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital where she's spent the best part of her adult life prepares for closure. Dr Grene who is a resident doctor and
psychiatrist, becomes interested in her case and digs up her history in an attempt to decide if she really is insane. Over the weeks leading up to this upheaval, she talks often with her psychiatrist Dr Grene. This relationship, guarded but trusting after so many years, intensifies and complicates as Dr Grene mourns the death of his wife.
Refracted through the haze of memory and retelling, Roseanne's story becomes an alternative, secret, history of Ireland. The story is shocking and deeply beautiful.
The Secret
Scripture is an engrossing tale of one woman's life, and a vivid reminder of the stranglehold that the Catholic Church had on individuals throughout much of the twentieth century. Exquisitely written, it is the story of a life blighted by terrible mistreatment and ignorance, and yet marked still by love and passion and hope.
The writing is poetic; it is a book you absolutely cannot skim. This book has been short listed for the Booker award and it is easy to see why? Lyrical prose combined with a captivating plot make for a book you cannot put down. Above all, the pacing is great, the book starts out slowly, all about the beautiful writing, and then the plot takes over, building to a big climax.