Don't Wake Me at Doyles

by Maura Murphy (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.37

  In a fearless and honest memoir, an ordinary Irish woman recounts an extraordinary life. Born 'chronically ugly and cross as a briar' into a poor rural homestead in 1920s Ireland, Maura Murphy left school and 14 and arrived in Dublin where she worked in service until she married. Later, poverty-stricken and with five young children, the family left Ireland for Birmingham of the 1950s, where they hoped to find a better life.

  
  
  

  At 75 years old, recovering from cancer and having left her marriage of 50 years, Maura Murphy told her story, from her early days running wild in the Irish countryside, to her destructive marriage to a hard-working, hard-drinking womaniser, the birth of her nine children, and a life-or-death choice that would change her forever.

  
  
  

  Hers is a story that will resonate with Irish and English alike, her voice the voice of a forgotten generation. Told with biting wit, DON'T WAKE ME AT DOYLES contains all the explosive power of ANGELA'S ASHES - told by Angela.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.37

  When seventy-year-old Maura Murphy discovered she had cancer, she left her husband of fifty years and started writing her memoirs. Born 'chronically ugly and as cross as a briar' into a poor rural homestead in 1920s Ireland, Maura lived much of her adult life in England, where she raised nine children and fought to keep together a family ravaged by poverty and alcohol. The voice of a silent generation of an immigrant-Irish underclass, Maura Murphy's tough and remarkable life is a compellingly written account of struggle and survival like no other. With all the immediacy and impact of Frank McCourt's prize-winning ANGELA'S ASHES, Maura's voice is feisty, funny and fearless. And she needed to be all those things to survive an extraordinary series of privations and abuses. Her story is compelling and upbeat despite everything.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $3.37

  When seventy-year-old Maura Murphy discovered she had cancer, she left her husband of fifty years and started writing her memoirs. Born 'chronically ugly and as cross as a briar' into a poor rural homestead in 1920s Ireland, Maura lived much of her adult life in England, where she raised nine children and fought to keep together a family ravaged by poverty and alcohol. The voice of a silent generation of an immigrant-Irish underclass, Maura Murphy's tough and remarkable life is a compellingly written account of struggle and survival like no other. With all the immediacy and impact of Frank McCourt's prize-winning Angela's Ashes, Maura's voice is feisty, funny and fearless. And she needed to be all those things to survive an extraordinary series of privations and abuses. Her story is compelling and upbeat despite everything.