Set in Wexford in Ireland in 1985 this beautiful novella follows Bill, a loving husband and father who works hard selling coal and timber and making deliveries around the town. When he delivers coal to the Magdalen laundry (an institute run by the Catholic Church in Ireland and now famous for the horrible abuse to girls who fell pregnant out of ‘wedlock’ and were sent there) he struggles with his reaction – should he help the girls and risk alienation and persecution in the town very much under the thumb of the church?
I read this short book in one setting, and was enraptured by the fabulous writing and the evocative story.
Sarah Wray Writer 