Paula Spencer

Book Review

Roddy Doyle

Paula Spencer has had a rough life. She is an alcoholic, but is now clean, and she's trying to pick up the pieces of her tattered life. Her husband beat her and murdered the wife of a bank manager during an attempted robbery. Her children may or may not blame her for treating them badly while she was drunk. She cleans houses, and works a second job cleaning up after rock concerts in the hope that she can buy herself a much-needed coat, and perhaps even a handbag. This is Paula's story.

Roddy Doyle's novel follows Paula's post-alcoholic life through a first-person narrative. The result is harsh, yet poignant, and is often hard to read. It is almost impossible to dislike Paula. She has hope, despite adversity, and refuses to give up on herself, her children, or her sisters. This is a triumph of characterization.

She's never seen anything like the rain. It falls in sheets, then drops. Minutes later the ground is dry but the air is wet and oily. She's sweating drinks she had years ago. Moving, even thinking, gets her drenched. Her head – Jesus. This isn't fuckin' Ireland . It can't be.