Holy Pictures is set in Dublin, probably around the turn of the 20th Century, though it doesn't say exactly when. The novel centers around the Cantwell family, notably daughter Nan.

Papa Cantwell owns a (blush) corset factory. But ladies are turning from steel-belted, all-weather laced corsets to rubberized, comfortable (well, relatively comfortable) models. Mr. Cantwell is as inflexible as his corsets and seeks to contour the past as tightly as cinched waists. Modernize? Not he! And there are predictable consequences to his business. He's a boor and a brute. His wife is a typical gentile booby, drifing along or actually drifting downwards with her husband. She's hapless against the tides of ruin that are washing up on their middle-class conventional life. She goes to the hairdresser, neglects the housekeeping and the kids.

Nan does well in school and tries to make sense of the increasing disorder in the family. For Mr. Cantwell, it would seem, has a past, a past that comes back in the shape of a bundle of letters written in spindly green ink. Nan's coming-of-age as a woman is shot through with the sins of the adults in her life. Truly, the sins of the fathers are in this case, visited on the children. She notes that "grownups get money for nothing." and that they take advantage of the weak, even children, whenever they can. The "nothing" is of course, not "nothing", and Nan finds out about the facts of life a bit too late as always.

This is a fine, fine first novel and really has only the flaw of being over-ambitious and a bit exotic. The events are crammed in, doubtless from the author's incredible creativity and observant eye and ear. First novels sometimes are a bit over-stuffed, and despite the fact this is not a long book, it is very packed with events, characters, and imagery. But this is a minor literary criticism. This is a wonderful book to read, and if you can find a copy of it, do so. You will probably enjoy it as much as I did.

I'm comparing "Holy Pictures" to Angela's Ashes (which was a memoir.) So the comparison is only that Boylan writes of tough times growing up in Ireland, and that the protagonist is a bright, worthy character surrounded by less-than-sterling adults. There, the comparison ends. But if you liked Angela's Ashes, you will very probably like "Holy Pictures." Unfortunately, it is out of print, but used copies are available, or maybe your librarian was of a literary bent and bought a copy for your town. I hope so.

I bought ROOM FOR A SINGLE LADY in a downtown Dublin bookstore for my "airplane read" back to the United States. It was a great choice and marvelous entertainment. It is a tale of family survival, both financial and social in depressed 1950's Ireland. Oh no, not another tale of making it through the Irish childhood and adolescence. Well there is always room for one more for us grandchildren of the old sod and this one had a bit more laghter than tears. To improve dwindling monetary circustances the Rafferty's of Dublin decide to take in a border--a genteel single lady who not only can contribute to the family's finances but can introduce their three daughters to some of society's better refinements. The border concept turns into a revolving door of various lovable, wacky, entertaining characters who bring great change and insight to the entire Rafferty family. From serious, sad Selena with her caring ways, to glamorous, trashy Sissy, to Ruth, the Communist, and Minnie Mankivitz, frugal and sensible, yet blind when it comes to men, the Rafferty's lives wind through complex delightful dramas! Seen through the eyes of Rose, the youngest daughter, ROOM FOR A SINGLE LADY details the effects of sharing one's home with strangers, and how one family grew thanks to the laughter, tears, anger, and wacky fun that resulted from letting out the spare room to these most bizarre group of women. This tale is not as dramatic as ANGELA'S ASHES or as angry as A STAR NAMED HENRY but is a delightful and entertaining saga of some uproarious days in the life of an Irish family!

The book is about a girl who adobted a child from Africa

"Black Baby" by Clare Boylan is an incredibly comical story about an elderly,innocent and frail woman,Alice,who adopted a black baby from a mission in Africa for half a crown when she was a child.Fifty years hence, Alice has forgotten all about the adoption until Dinah, her adopted black baby, turns up on her doorstep. Dinah is a little baby no longer, but an oversized black woman dressed in a tight leather and red stiletto heels. They embark on a hilarious journey of discovery that enriches both their lives. They are each others salvation and redemption.

This is the second "Finbar's Hotel," collection edited by Bolger, and this one is given over to seven Irish women writers: Maeve Binchy, Clare Boylan, Emma Donoghue, Anne Haverty, Eilis Ni Dhibhne, Kate O'Riordan and Deirdre Purcell. As in the first one (which had only two women, Anne Enright and Jennifer Johnston), each writer is given a "room" of the hotel, and creates a guest and a story to explain their presence at the hotel. And as in the first one, the writer of each story is not identified. One has to wonder at the point of such cleverness, as it is a directly impedes any attempt on the reader's part to discover a new writer to seek out in the future. For example, say I find two of the seven stories to be amazing, what am I to do? Buy one book by each of the seven writers and read all seven to figure out whose writing it was that I liked? Since there's no real purpose to keeping the authors secret (other than editorial conceit), why do it?

The strongest stories reside in rooms 101 and 106, which contain stories that revolve around marital infidelity, but have gentle reversals. Room 104 also concerns infidelity, but in this case, to God-and is much less interesting. Rooms 102, 103, 105 and the penthouse all contain guests coming from abroad and their stories all revolve around encounters with their past. Room 105, which concerns a mother meeting her son for the first time is perhaps the best of them, although the penthouse story is worth reading for the ending if nothing else. One sort of odd running thread is the clumsy mocking of Americans that appears in each story, which is in contrast the generally gentle tone of the collection. All in the all, the collection is inoffensive, but not quite as strong as the original Finbar's Hotel.

I bought this book because I saw Maeve Binchey's name on it. As much as I love her writing, I have not read much Irish fiction, and this looked like a fun book.

The book is a set of short stories that have inter-connecting characters in the stories. Each chapter was written by a different author, and I had fun trying to figure out who wrote which chapter. The story itself was light and fun, but not as much as I had hoped.

I enjoyed reading Ladies Night at Finbar's hotel, and would highly recommend it as a vacation or beach read. Nothing too deep to get lost in.

This book us a follow-up to Finbar's Hotel where 6 Irish writers wrote short stories about a decrepit but lively Dublin hotel Ladies Night is all Irish female writers, with the unique female perspective on many issues related to women: pregnancy, artificial insemination, old loves who have done you wrong, youth and aging, sexual jealousy. Although the topics can be dark, the writing is tight, witty and stylish so you can appreciate the humor even if you are crying over a piteous situation, hoping it will all turn out all right in the end. But does it? Read each story and see!

Lily and Dick Butler have been married nearly 50 years, living for most of those years near Dublin, in a home in which Dick refuses to pay for central heating. But, lately several large sums of money have disappeared from their checking account, and Dick is unable or unwilling to account for them. He seems at times docile, but still rules his roost with an iron hand and has never become accustomed to being a useless old retired man. Lily is a victim of her times, the self-effacing woman with no aspirations other than homemaker. Ruth, their 40 year old daughter, is a single architect and ardent feminist who encourages Lily to exert her will and try to be less dependent on Dick.

After finding Dick under the bed with a gun one night, Lily reluctantly concedes to Ruth's urging to have him tested by a psychiatrist, who pronounces him manic-depressive. He is sent to a psychiatric hospital where he vacillates between a drug induced torpor and manic, dangerous, destructive outbursts. Rather than realizing how much better off she is without him, Lily becomes so lonely and depressed that she actually adopts a mouse as her pet.

Ruth, the classic sandwich generation, is torn between getting on with her life, trying to appease her demanding father, and trying to keep her mother from sinking further into her own depression.

The book provides some poignant, revealing insights into what makes a 50-year marriage work. Lily said "the truth is, we accommodated each other. Maybe I just accommodated him. We understood each other's weaknesses." The book is a sad, revealing, sometimes funny commentary on the most enduring and intimate of human relationships.