The Secret Scripture
ABOUT
THE BOOK
Roseanne McNulty, perhaps nearing her one-hundredth birthday – no one is quite sure – faces an uncertain future, as the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital where she’s spent the best part of her adult life prepares for closure. Over the weeks leading up to this upheaval, she talks often with her psychiatrist Dr Grene. This relationship, guarded but trusting after so many years, intensifies and complicates as Dr Grene mourns the death of his wife.
NOMINATING LIBRARY COMMENTS
A tender and touching book telling the story of a long term patient in a mental hospital through her own eyes and those of her psychiatrist. An absorbing and beautifully written tale.
Description of Barry’s language as “unique” and “magnificent” are well deserved. This novel is rich with psychological understanding and a skilful conjuring of time and place.
It is moving and beautifully written.
A lyrical and thought provoking work. The Secret Scripture provides us with a glimpse into the life of a 99-year-old Roseanne Mc Nulty in northwest Ireland in the mid-twentieth century. Her history mirrors the story of Ireland and is an unforgettable story of love, power, tragedy and redemption.
Through the memoirs and writings of the lives of two very different people set against the background of the turbulent history of Ireland in the 20th Century, Mr. Barry beautifully conveys the sense of unreliability of history, both personal and national.
Secrets and truths, love and tragedy both catholic and particular, composed in language of dazzling clarity.