Play Book Tag discussion

The Secret Scripture - Barry
Audio performance by Wanda McCaddon
5 stars

“Memory, I must suppose, if it is neglected becomes like a box room, or a lumber room in an old house, the contents jumbled about, maybe not only from neglect but also from too much haphazard searching in them, and things to boot thrown in that don't belong there.”

“For history as far as I can see is not the arrangement of what happens, in sequence and in truth, but a fabulous arrangement of surmises and guesses held up as a banner against the assault of withering truth.”


Roseanne McNulty is approaching her 100th birthday. She has a story to tell, but she’s doesn’t want to talk about it. Not really. She certainly doesn’t want to answer questions. She’s keeping a journal, a secret scripture. She’s one very sharp old lady, is Roseanne McNulty, but the question is, is she sane? What kind of an unreliable narrator is she?

For more than forty years, Roseanne has been confined in the Roscommon Regional Medical Hospital. The decaying psychiatric hospital facility is about to be closed, decertified and destroyed. While Roseanne writes her personal history, her secret scripture, her psychiatrist tries to determine when and why she was committed. Was she truly insane, or was her confinement another hidden atrocity of political and social abuse?

So the story is told in two voices, Roseanne and her psychiatrist, Dr. Grene. I loved Roseanne immediately. She does tell her story and remember events in a way that allows her to survive. Not always factually reliable; there are gaps that leave the reader (me) still wondering about exactly what happened and who was responsible. I’m not as forgiving as Roseanne McNulty. Dr. Grene was less endearing. I found him whiny and ineffectual. He was more tolerable in written form than in the audiobook. Wanda McCaddon is not my favorite voice artist. I usually avoid her, but she was perfect for Roseanne McNulty, just perfect. She was totally wrong for Dr. Grene . They needed a male voice for that part.

There’s wonderful, wonderful, writing in this book; powerful images, vibrant characters, lyrical prose. Roseanne was a marginally educated, Protestant, Irish woman during the 20th century. She is relating her childhood, her traumatic losses, her young adulthood. She doesn’t always have access to accurate information. Children are not told the real reasons for the bad things that happen. Trauma and time distorts memory. Without dates given or exposition on the historical events of the time, Sebastian Barry relates the effects of political and social upheavals from the first person perspective of a powerless individual. It works; Roseanne McNulty is a character that lives beyond the author’s pen. Powerless she may have been, but what a survivor!

This looks really great, thanks for sharing! On the TBR it goes

I meant to get to this for the Ireland tag but i was side-tracked. Surely it was a bestseller?

I have a love for books that feature unreliable narrators. It takes some adjusting to become accustomed to this premise but the writing is so powerful. This one will certainly be on my TBR list now.

Susie wrote: "I meant to get to this for the Ireland tag but i was side-tracked. Surely it was a bestseller?"

It won a lot of prizes, but I'm not sure about best seller lists. Twilight was the big seller in 2008. I will refrain from saying what I think about the correlation between best sellers and quality literature.

Sounds interesting. Adding to my TBR

Jgrace wrote: "I will refrain from saying what I think about the correlation between best sellers and quality literature...."

I know exactly what you mean. OTOH, I like a little Best Seller sometimes!