The Rising of Bella Casey

2015 Longlist

Bella is a bright, clever girl who trains as a school teacher, determined to escape the limitations of her genteel impoverishment and become a “mistress of her own life”. However, the manager of her school, the Rev Archibald Leeper, a married clergyman, develops a morbid attachment to her, which is to colour the rest of her life. Leeper places Bella in an untenable position; her only escape is to seduce a young army corporal, Nicholas Beaver, to hide the fact that her reputation has been ruined by the clergyman. She marries Nicholas and they have five children. However, when Nicholas dies at the age of 40 from syphilis, Bella realizes belatedly that she is not the only one who has been keeping sexual secrets.

Bella Casey was the sister of the playwright, Sean O’Casey. Tellingly, though, her brother chose to kill her off prematurely in his autobiography – at least 10 years before her actual demise.

(From Publisher)

About the Author

Mary Morrissy has published two novels, Mother of Pearl (shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize) and The Pretender (nominated for the IMPAC award), and a collection of short stories, A Lazy Eye. She is a winner of the prestigious US Lannan Prize and the Hennessy Award for short fiction. Her short stories have been widely published and anthologised in the UK and the US, most recently in the Faber Book of Irish Short Stories 2011. Her story The Scream won honourable mention in Best American Short Stories 2010, edited by Richard Russo.

Librarian’s Comments

A story of fortitude and bravery against the backdrop of Ireland during the Easter Rising.