The next installment of the Ma books--all bestsellers in Ireland and
the UK--brings readers on the journey of Martha's first months of
freedom in Dublin after leaving the convent where she spent her early
adolescence.
In the latest chapter of Martha Long's autobiographical series, Martha
is for the first time on her own: discharged from the convent, she's
finally 16, the age she'd long dreamed of as the doorway to her freedom
from the whims of cruel adults. Life is a bowl of cherries! she reasons
as she sets out to blend in with the middle classes and find love,
acceptance, and respect therein. But this is also Dublin in the 1960s,
where class aspirations ain't so easy for the likes of Martha.
As one job and bedsit is found (and lost), another soon comes along with
its own foibles and dangers . . . but with her signature spirit and true
grit, Martha makes the best of every situation and manages to offer
compassion even to the most downtrodden of characters who cross her
path. Chance meetings with old friends from the convent and a fortuitous
(yet brief) reunion with two of her brothers remind Martha of all she
has experienced (and survived) and serves as the impetus for her to keep
going . . . even when homelessness is all but certain.
As with her previous books, Ma, It's a Cold Aul Night an I'm Lookin for
a Bed has us cheering for Martha. This time she doesn't have any nuns
or abusive stepfathers preventing her from making progress . . . but
life does still get in the way, and that bowl of cherries sometimes
proves to be a bit more sour than Martha would hope.
