Friends Indeed

Friends Indeed

by RoseDoyle (Author)

Synopsis

Nineteenth-century Dublin is a city riven by the greed of an emerging middle class and the unspeakable poverty of the poor. Alicia Buckley and Sarah Rooney, growing up there, embody that divide. Despite their different backgrounds, the girls enjoy an extraordinary friendship, so when Sarah falls pregnant, and is thrown out by her father, Allie doesn't think twice about joining her friend in exile. Neither woman is prepared for the deprivations she will face. Pursuing Sarah's soldier lover Jimmy Vance, they make their way, with baby James to Kildare, where they become part of a community of outcast women, known as the Wrens of the Curragh. Reviled in the local town, the women live rough, savage lives on the outskirts of the army camp. But there is also sharing and trust, through her work as the community's doctor, a liberation for Allie from the stifling expectations of her family. Tragedy, however, forces them to travel to America, but a final twist of fate means that only Alice will reach that brave new world, adopting her friend's son as her own, and eventually agreeing to marry Jimmy Vance to give the child a father.

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 480
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
Published: 04 Jul 2002

ISBN 10: 0340771348
ISBN 13: 9780340771341
Book Overview: The true, untold story of the remarkable women who were the Wrens of the Curragh

Media Reviews
Beautifully written ... enjoyable, entertaining, interesting (read), full of drama and unexpected twists. Marian Keyes A fascinating story, rivetingly told David Norris, Irish Times A vivid historical picture, a moving portrait of two friends Irish World Absorbing, full of drama and incident. Bookseller The historical detail grips while the women's romances move the story along at a cracking pace Irish Times Praise for Rose Doyle: 'Ms. Doyle has a firm and skilled touch, pace is fast without careering out of control' Vincent Banville, Sunday Press on IMAGES Riveting ... Beautifully written, this book illustrates a little known segment of Irish history, the tenor of 19th-century life in Dublin, and the misery and bankruptcy of any social order where women are powerless. Mary Ryan, Irish Times Beautifully written drama ... is undoubtedly one of her finest. Irish World
Author Bio
Rose Doyle is a Dublin-based journalist who has written six previous novels for adults and three for children.