The farm family in backward, twentieth century Donegal
didn't value daughters. So Ruby who didn't suit hotel
work,
laboured on the farm next to her father, hoping not to be
packed off to a convent. When her father dies she's in her
thirties, and her mother sells the cattle, pleased to keep
Ruby as a housemaid. Will THE GODFORSAKEN DAUGHTER ever
come into her own?
Henry Shevlin is a psychologist, who has relocated
following the disappearance of his wife in 1983. In one of
life's strange twists, he may never understand why she
went
for a walk and took her passport, choosing to vanish. He
joins a small practice, based in Derry. His patients are
on
drink or drugs to help them cope with life. As usual, he
gets far too wrapped up in his work. Is this a clue as to
why his wife vanished?
Ruby unearths a case of her grandmother's fortune telling
equipment in the cluttered attic. She starts to understand
that the time has come for the worm to turn. But she's
unpaid and uneducated, unvalued by anyone. Who would be
interested in her? And will her worldly sisters spoil all
her new plans?
There are scenes of earthy comedy and more of touching
drama in THE GODFORSAKEN DAUGHTER which demonstrates how
at
one time women had no individual identity. Contrasts
abound, between people from rural areas and Belfast City,
the unquestioning devotion to Church and the new idols of
John Lennon and footballer George Best. Christina McKenna
is a Northern Irish writer who tries to portray some
realities of the past as well as hope for the future.
Those
interested in women's fiction or an unusual tale of
country
living in Ireland will enjoy the read.
When Ruby Clare's father was alive, they toiled together
happily on their dairy farm in Northern Ireland. Since his
death, Ruby—thirty-three, plump but comely—has been forced
indoors and made a domestic drudge for Martha, her
endlessly critical mother, and her prettier younger
sisters, May and June.
But everything changes when Ruby finds her late
grandmother's old case in the attic. Among its strange
contents: a curious, handmade volume called The Book of
Light.
As Ruby delves into its mysterious pages, she's enticed
into a most beguiling world, whose allure and magnetic
power she finds irresistible.
Martha, convinced that her newly empowered daughter is
going crazy, enlists the help of the kindly parish priest,
and then psychiatrist Henry Shevlin. Henry appears
imperturbable, yet is inwardly reeling from his wife's
unexplained disappearance the previous year.
As Ruby undergoes therapy, she meets local bachelor farmer
Jamie McCloone. Through their shared loneliness and
isolation the two find the courage to connect. But will
Ruby's mother allow her daughter the happiness she so
richly deserves?
The Godforsaken Daughter is an unforgettable peek into
small-town life in Ireland's recent past. It's a glorious
successor to McKenna's first two “Tailorstown” novels, The
Misremembered Man and The Disenchanted Widow.
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