"If I am to see the children again..let them be as they were when they were small"
By sally tarbox on 23 June 2018
Format: Paperback
This is going to be one of my top reads of 2018!
Published in 1950 but set earlier in the century in Dublin, this is the story of the eponymous materfamilias, wife of a working class man and mother of five. And it's utterly unputdownable, an absolute blockbuster of a family saga, in the best Victorian tradition, with brilliant characterization and rending tragedy.
It's not a typical tale: there's no alcoholism, they seem to have enough money to manage, Mary's husband is a decent chap, the children are loved and healthy. But as Mary reaches middle age, things are about to change, with children seeking to fly the nest, and a tough world out there... The pretty selfless and religiously inclined (but only human) Mary has to contend with no longer being the focus of her offspring's lives and much more.
I've had this sitting on my TBR shelf for some years, never realised what a fabulous writer Mary Lavin is!! ( )

Novel set in Dublin in the early 1900's by an award winning, but mostly forgotten, female author. The narrative is primarily viewed in the moment via the heroine's consciousness. The author viewed this novel as a collection of inter-related short stories following the fates of the individual characters. The drama of the narrative is domestic, private. The primary interest is in the setting and the portrayal of the values of that time. ( )

Mary O’Grady is the story of one woman and her family during roughly the first half of the 20th century. The novel opens with her marriage to Tom and move to Dublin from her native Tullamore, and the birth of Mary’s 5 children—Patrick, Ellie, Angie, Larry, and Rosie.

I found it kind of hard to like the main character sometimes. She’s so concerned with her children that there’s very little introspection. She doesn’t have time to think because she’s so busy thinking about other people; so our perception of Mary is colored by her children’s opinions of her. Because of her stifling, it’s hard for her children to gain independence—which is exactly why they flee from her—Patrick to America, Larry to the priesthood, etc. So this is mostly a domestic novel; in fact, with the exception of one or two scenes that take place outdoors, most of the action takes place inside. Therefore there’s a kind of claustrophobic feeling to the novel.

The character development of the novel is a little strange, too; for example, either the characters keep thinking that Rosie is younger than she actually is and treat her that way, or the author kept forgetting, because the timeline was a little bit off. The novel is divided into sections that focus on one member of the family or a couple, but I thought that the novel’s physical structure this way was a little bit scattered. Also, the ending was a little bit sketchy; I kept thinking that the author was trying to cram in as much plot and information in as she could. I’m not sure that this novel is my favorite that Virago have published, but the subject matter just wasn’t my cup of tea. ( )