The Secret Scripture

I've just finished reading The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. It's not perfect - the major flaw is that it all ties in too neatly in the end-, but the first 75% of the book is compelling reading. The main character, Roseanne Clear, tells us her life, and how she ended up in a mental institution. In parallel, Dr Grene, her psychiatrist, keeps a diary of his conversations with Roseanne and of his relationship (or lack thereof) with his wife. He is somewhat distracted by events (I won't say too much), and doesn't seem to be a very focused doctor. I found I wasn't that interested in his side of the story, but I found Roseanne's voice very human, and I was very taken by her story and how she tells it.

I found her description of the Strandhill area in Sligo quite beautiful, and I would be curious to climb up Knocknarea next time I'm in the neighbourhood (PS: picture of Cooney island from Knocknarea was found on this website: http://franklludwig.com/xconeyisland.html)