Ten years on from The Woman Who Walked into Doors, Roddy Doyle returns to one of his greatest characters, Paula Spencer
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of seven
acclaimed novels and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won
the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
Reader Biography
Ger Ryan is a native of Dublin. She began her career in theatre in
1985 and has since had many roles both on television and in feature
films, including The Commitments and The Van. She read The Woman
Who Walked Into Doors, the prequel to Paula Spencer, for Random
House Audiobooks and also played Paula Spencer in Roddy Doyle's
acclaimed series Family for the BBC.
The author's sentences reflect the tiny triumphs that mark Paula's
life as she gets through each day without alcohol. They work
particularly well on audio and the Irish narrator brings the
listener right into the minutiae of Paula's life as she struggles
to regain all she has lost, most poignantly, the love of her
alienated children.
*Observer*
Ger Ryan reads Roddy Doyle's Paula Spencer with absolute
conviction...and if you think you are in for a depressing listen,
think again. Brave and funny, Paula looks at life with humour and
compassion...it all makes for splendid listening.
*Daily Express*
Doyle gets right inside the head of this 21st-century Dubliner in a
stream of consciousness that is by turns moving, funny and just a
little bit tedious - a real person, in other words. Ger Ryan gives
compelling voice to the Dublin vernacular and for the duration of
the CDs Paula becomes a presence in your life.
*Sunday Times*
If you like Paula Spencer, you'll love this full-on reading by Ger
Ryan. I loved every minute and look forward to the next
installment.
*Irish Times*
The heroine of Doyle's 1996 bestseller, The Woman Who Walked into Doors, returns long widowed (abusive husband Charlo having been killed fleeing the Irish police) and four months sober. Those absences and old relationships mark the year we follow in Paula's new life: she worries that her daughter, Leanne, is following in her footsteps; negotiates her resentment of her bossy older daughter, Nicola; and reconciles with her son, John Paul, now a recovering heroin addict with two kids of his own. Doyle, Booker Winner for Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha and author of The Commitments, does a lot in this novel by doing little: it is John Paul's quiet distance, for example, that serves as a constant reminder of the horrendous mother and pitiful alcoholic Paula used to be. The newfound prosperity of Ireland affects Paula's day-to-day life on the bottom of the economic scale which suddenly looks a lot different. Paula's inner life lacks subtler shades, and her outer life is full of tiring work, abstinence from liquor and family. These aren't elements that automatically make for a have-to-read novel, but in this wholly and vividly imagined case, they do. (Jan.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
The author's sentences reflect the tiny triumphs that mark Paula's
life as she gets through each day without alcohol. They work
particularly well on audio and the Irish narrator brings the
listener right into the minutiae of Paula's life as she struggles
to regain all she has lost, most poignantly, the love of her
alienated children. * Observer *
Ger Ryan reads Roddy Doyle's Paula Spencer with absolute
conviction...and if you think you are in for a depressing listen,
think again. Brave and funny, Paula looks at life with humour and
compassion...it all makes for splendid listening. * Daily Express
*
Doyle gets right inside the head of this 21st-century Dubliner in a
stream of consciousness that is by turns moving, funny and just a
little bit tedious - a real person, in other words. Ger Ryan gives
compelling voice to the Dublin vernacular and for the duration of
the CDs Paula becomes a presence in your life. * Sunday Times *
If you like Paula Spencer, you'll love this full-on reading by Ger
Ryan. I loved every minute and look forward to the next
installment. -- Arminta Wallace * Irish Times *
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