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23rd out of 290 books
—
192 voters
A Swift Pure Cry
by
Siobhan Dowd
Ireland 1984.
After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, wh...more
After Shell's mother dies, her obsessively religious father descends into alcoholic mourning and Shell is left to care for her younger brother and sister. Her only release from the harshness of everyday life comes from her budding spiritual friendship with a naive young priest, and most importantly, her developing relationship with childhood friend, Declan, wh...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
April 10th 2007
by David Fickling Books
(first published March 2nd 2006)
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How can I describe "A Swift Pure Cry"? Certainly not in terms that are often applied to books.
Ephemere.
Fragile.
Elegant.
Claustrophobic.
Beautiful.
This is the story of Shell, short for Michelle, a 16-year old girl who, in 1984, deals with the aftermath of her mother's death and the consequences of her father's drinking/religious awakening. She finds comfort in the friendship of a young pastor, Father Rose, not realizing that their interactions spike a scandal which rock...more
How can I describe "A Swift Pure Cry"? Certainly not in terms that are often applied to books.
Ephemere.
Fragile.
Elegant.
Claustrophobic.
Beautiful.
This is the story of Shell, short for Michelle, a 16-year old girl who, in 1984, deals with the aftermath of her mother's death and the consequences of her father's drinking/religious awakening. She finds comfort in the friendship of a young pastor, Father Rose, not realizing that their interactions spike a scandal which rock...more
8 likes · like · see review
view 1 comment
Nov 08, 2012
Jennifer Wardrip
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Shelves:
trt-posted-reviews,
trt-gold-star-award-winner
Reviewed by Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com
After her mother died, fifteen-year-old Shell is left to take care of her younger brother and sister and her drunken father. They live in a small Irish village in a little farmhouse. Her mother's death has caused her father to drink even more than he did before, and in sudden religious zeal, he goes out daily to make his "collections." These donations are meant for the church, but he takes out more than his fair share before turnin...more
After her mother died, fifteen-year-old Shell is left to take care of her younger brother and sister and her drunken father. They live in a small Irish village in a little farmhouse. Her mother's death has caused her father to drink even more than he did before, and in sudden religious zeal, he goes out daily to make his "collections." These donations are meant for the church, but he takes out more than his fair share before turnin...more
The one thing that stands out for me throughout this book is how a child is lost without its mother, compounded by a father who is absent most of the time. A lot of the things that happened would not have happened if there was a mother in the story - a depressed father, three children who only have one another for looking after, a pregnancy that happened just a little after the young teener learned about bra sizes, the death of an innocent infant.
Stories such as this one hits me to the core. It...more
Stories such as this one hits me to the core. It...more
4 likes · like · see review
Oct 07, 2007
Marilyn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
9th grade and up
Shelves:
youngadultfiction
Dowd writes beautifully with a very Irish feel to her words. This story touched me deeply especially because Shell seemed like such a real person.
Siobhan Dowd writes with such poignanacy about lost souls, people who struggle to survive on a daily basis. What makes me care so much about her heroes is that they are strong, they don't whine about their lot in life, they just figure out how to live anyway.
When I first began this book, I was tempted to quit when the parish priest was introduced. (Before reading a book, I try to avoid reading anything about the plot, so I can start fresh, no opinion ahead of time.)So I thought, no, not another...more
When I first began this book, I was tempted to quit when the parish priest was introduced. (Before reading a book, I try to avoid reading anything about the plot, so I can start fresh, no opinion ahead of time.)So I thought, no, not another...more
Read as part of One Cavan One Writer.
Shell is 15 years old and lives with her father and two younger siblings near a small town in Ireland. Life is hard on Shell since her mother died a year previously. She’s trying to look after the house and her brother and sister while her father has descended into religious obsession and drink. During the past year Shell has lost her faith in God and Jesus, but that returns when a new young priest, Father Rose, comes to the parish.
Her new found faith isn’t e...more
Shell is 15 years old and lives with her father and two younger siblings near a small town in Ireland. Life is hard on Shell since her mother died a year previously. She’s trying to look after the house and her brother and sister while her father has descended into religious obsession and drink. During the past year Shell has lost her faith in God and Jesus, but that returns when a new young priest, Father Rose, comes to the parish.
Her new found faith isn’t e...more
This is a beautiful, heartbreaking but ultimately life-affirming book. It tells the story of Shell, whose mother has died and father has become religiously obsessed, leaving Shell to look after the house and her younger brother and sister. When her mother died Shell lost her religious faith, but the arrival of a young priest, Father Rose, in her small Irish town inspires her to see the divine in her everyday existence.
The novel believably portrays the relationships between the characters: Shell...more
The novel believably portrays the relationships between the characters: Shell...more
Who is the father of Shell’s baby? In A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd, fifteen year old Michelle “Shell” Talent lives in County Cork, Ireland with her father and her two younger siblings. Shell’s mother has died and it’s her responsibility to take care of her family. Siobhan Dowd had won many awards for her writing, including the 2007 Branford Boase Award for outstanding novel for younger teens. In this story, Shell becomes pregnant by somebody she knew and who leaves her alone and pregnant. Th...more
Shell Talent has a tough life. Her mother has died, her father is an alcoholic who has become obsessed with religion and terrorizes his children. Shell must be mother, father and a teen in the south of Ireland in 1084. When she becomes pregnant by her classmate Declan who then runs away to American, Shell can't bear to get an abortion, she hides her pregnancy from her father, friends, & those in her village. But she cannot hide it from her brother and sister. So one night, she gives birth an...more
Bog Child remains my favorite, possibly for the hopefulness of tone. Cry is more about loss of faith - for Shell, Father Rose, Da...pretty much everyone. And I don't know that any of them find it again. The ghost in this story is Shell's mam, who died the year before, and she wanders throughout as the Bog Child does in that book, providing a glimmer of...hope is the wrong word here. Patience may be closer. There is a certain amount of patience required for hope, I suppose.
The language is still s...more
The language is still s...more
Laut Beschreibung spielt das Buch im Irland der 80er Jahre. Den dortigen Verhältnissen nach zu urteilen kann man da aber gefühlt noch ein paar Jahrzehnte abziehen...
Die 15jährige Shell muss sich nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter nicht nur um den Haushalt sondern auch um ihre beiden kleinen Geschwister kümmern, da der Vater zwar vordergründig fanatisch religiös, tatsächlich aber ein Trinker und fast nie zu Hause ist. Als ein neuer, junger Pfarrer in den Ort kommt, gewinnt Shell zunächst neue Hoffnung, do...more
Die 15jährige Shell muss sich nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter nicht nur um den Haushalt sondern auch um ihre beiden kleinen Geschwister kümmern, da der Vater zwar vordergründig fanatisch religiös, tatsächlich aber ein Trinker und fast nie zu Hause ist. Als ein neuer, junger Pfarrer in den Ort kommt, gewinnt Shell zunächst neue Hoffnung, do...more
Même si j'étais plutôt perplexe au début, je dois admettre que ce livre est très beau mais assez particulier. Il convient surtout aux jeunes et aux adultes.
Le roman aborde différent thèmes, notamment la mort, mais je n'en dirai pas plus car c'est intéressant de découvrir toute l'histoire par soi-même.
J'ai beaucoup apprécié l'héroïne, Shell, une fille de 15 ans mais qui en paraît beaucoup moins. Sa relation à la fois tendre et complice avec son frère et sa soeur est très touchante.
En fait, Shell...more
Le roman aborde différent thèmes, notamment la mort, mais je n'en dirai pas plus car c'est intéressant de découvrir toute l'histoire par soi-même.
J'ai beaucoup apprécié l'héroïne, Shell, une fille de 15 ans mais qui en paraît beaucoup moins. Sa relation à la fois tendre et complice avec son frère et sa soeur est très touchante.
En fait, Shell...more
1 like · like · see review
Shell is fifteen, living in a small village in Cork, where the church is central to the community, and everyone knows each other's business. Her mother is recently dead, and leaves a huge hole in the life of her family, which Shell tries to compensate for, caring for her younger siblings, buffering them from the alcoholic grief of their increasingly self destructive father, while trying to carve out her own place at school, with friends, at church. When everything goes awry, Shell finds herself...more
Apr 03, 2012
Louise (Nerdette Reviews)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
historical
I originally picked up this book having no idea what it was about as I was drawn to the picture that was on the spine and the cover. I have a thing for covers that make me think "what the hell is that?" and since the blurb is quite vague, I picked it up for the cover.
I was going to file this under DNF because the first chapter is full of Catholicism when Shell refinds her faith when a new priest gives mass at her church. I do believe in God, but even that was a bit too much for me. I don't mind...more
I was going to file this under DNF because the first chapter is full of Catholicism when Shell refinds her faith when a new priest gives mass at her church. I do believe in God, but even that was a bit too much for me. I don't mind...more
3.5 stars I liked this book a lot. I got interested in Ms. Dowd after reading "A Monster Calls," which was written from her idea by Patrick Ness after her death.
A Swift Pure Cry is the story of a 15 year old Irish girl named Shell whose mother is dead and father is a drunk, leaving her to care for her two younger siblings. She gets pregnant, which sets the small town she's living in abuzz with gossip and sparks a criminal investigation when a baby is found abandoned in a local cave.
Shell is a bi...more
A Swift Pure Cry is the story of a 15 year old Irish girl named Shell whose mother is dead and father is a drunk, leaving her to care for her two younger siblings. She gets pregnant, which sets the small town she's living in abuzz with gossip and sparks a criminal investigation when a baby is found abandoned in a local cave.
Shell is a bi...more
I would probably give this book 3.5 stars if I could. The problem with Siobhan Dowd's writing (and this book suffered from it as well) is that it takes a long time to really get into the story. Once I was into it though, I couldn't put it down.
16-year-old Shell's father has gone a little nuts since Shell's mother died a year and a half ago. Drinking almost non-stop, living off of "collecting for the church", and constantly going to church (forcing his kids along with him whenever he can) leaves...more
16-year-old Shell's father has gone a little nuts since Shell's mother died a year and a half ago. Drinking almost non-stop, living off of "collecting for the church", and constantly going to church (forcing his kids along with him whenever he can) leaves...more
In the beginning of this book Shell finds her faith again because of a new priest. That part actually had me wanting to put it down. She was comparing herself to Jesus a lot.
Then the "main thing" happens and I was drawn in enough to finish the rest in one sitting.
***Big Time spoilers**
A Swift Pure Cry was inspired by two separate incidents in Ireland. The first event occurred in 1984 when a fifteen-year-old girl died from blood loss and exposure while trying to give birth on her own. Critics b...more
Then the "main thing" happens and I was drawn in enough to finish the rest in one sitting.
***Big Time spoilers**
A Swift Pure Cry was inspired by two separate incidents in Ireland. The first event occurred in 1984 when a fifteen-year-old girl died from blood loss and exposure while trying to give birth on her own. Critics b...more
There are slight spoilers hovering around in this review… I’m going to try and not spoil it outright but if you don’t want to know anything about it… here’s the short version:read it read it read it.
“Together always. Free… And their lives ahead of them, around them, spilling from them as they screamed Whoooooooooo like three demented owls. What joy it was to be, what joy.”
Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Breath taken and hairs on the back of my neck standing up… wowowow. This book was spectacular.
Hi...more
“Together always. Free… And their lives ahead of them, around them, spilling from them as they screamed Whoooooooooo like three demented owls. What joy it was to be, what joy.”
Initial Final Page Thoughts.
Breath taken and hairs on the back of my neck standing up… wowowow. This book was spectacular.
Hi...more
14 likes · like · see review
Shell,a teenager in modern Ireland, is trying to raise her two siblings after her mother dies. Her father, not too stable under the best of circumstances, has really fallen apart since the death of Shell's mother. Shell is doing the best she can, but she is struggling and confused. The best thing happening for her is her on-again off-again relationship with a good looking boy from her neighborhood. It is clear to many people in her village that Shell is having a harder and harder time keeping th...more
May 15, 2012
Kristy
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-2012,
ya-fiction
In Ireland in 1984 Shell is dealing with the aftermath of her mother's death as her dad goes psycho religious (ish, he spends every day collecting money for charity but spends it on booze instead).
Beautifully written with Irish accents which I loved, it reminded me of childhood summers spent in Ireland :) Gives a good insight into Irish Catholic families at the time and their views. Parts of it are heartbreaking and some funny. Shell's younger siblings are fab, especially the clarity of their a...more
Beautifully written with Irish accents which I loved, it reminded me of childhood summers spent in Ireland :) Gives a good insight into Irish Catholic families at the time and their views. Parts of it are heartbreaking and some funny. Shell's younger siblings are fab, especially the clarity of their a...more
"Ein reiner Schrei" ist ein zartes, aber gleichzeitig sehr heftiges Buch, das offenbar mit viel Liebe geschrieben wurde. Während des Lesens konnte ich nicht anders, als die Worte in mich aufzusaugen. Siobhan Dowds Schreibstil ist sehr angenehm und außergewöhnlich. Sie schafft mit wenigen Worten beeindruckende Bilder, die in sekundenschnelle im Kopf erscheinen und dann nicht mehr verschwinden wollen. Für Gefühle benötigt sie wenige Worte - dennoch denkt man als Leser, man sei die Hauptperson. Ich...more
I grabbed this one up because the author of A Monster Calls, a book that a number of people held in awe, said he had worked the idea from Siobhan Dowd, who had died before being able to do so herself.
While it's lovely and flits with very large heavinesses, I think I don't connect with an essentially Irish story. There are themes that are worldwide - the parent-hunger, faith and its lack, poverty, cattiness, teen pregnancy - but how it's dealt with in that kind of community with those reactions,...more
While it's lovely and flits with very large heavinesses, I think I don't connect with an essentially Irish story. There are themes that are worldwide - the parent-hunger, faith and its lack, poverty, cattiness, teen pregnancy - but how it's dealt with in that kind of community with those reactions,...more
6 likes · like · see review
This book is absolutely heart-wrenching. This coming of age story about Shell is set in Cork, Ireland in 1984. Her mother has died and her father is abusing alcohol. She is left alone to raise her brother and sister. She is also sorting out who her friends are and what adults she can trust. Among them is a young priest who is suffering through a crisis of faith. SPOILER: Unfamiliar with the changes in her own body and with zero guidance she ends up a pregnant teenager who is accused of infantici...more
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this is the most beautifully written and detailed book i have ever read. it so inspiring and heart breaking. it gives you an imaginatiove but realistic tale that wouldn't usually but could easily happen to a young girl. it is the best book i have ever read and probably is the best book i will ever read. it is so brilliant and amazing and fantastic and any posative word would fit with this book!!! it is creatively told and is very clever with its wording and story line. i highly reccomend this bo...more
Home sick today so finished A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd. Such a truly sensitive book of an Irish teen's struggle with faith and love all while desperately missing her deceased mom (mam). Her father's grief has caused him to lose touch with reality and lead him to drinking, leaving her to care for herself and her two younger siblings. When a new young priest comes to their village Shell's faith is restored but her life is about to head into turmoil. 5✭ for this book inspired by a true story....more
This book definitely dealt with heavier themes and I liked it. The setting is in the 1980's in Ireland. Just by the location I was eager to read. Shell is a girl being raised in poverty. She's the older sister to Jimmy and Trix, and for all intents and purposes, is a surrogate mother to them. Their father is a drunk who is fanatically religious and a wholly irresponsible parent. Finding sure footing is next to impossible for Shell with the life she's been given. The story, sadly, is true to too...more
Very well-written--I was deeply impressed by Dowd's Bog Child, and the writing in this one holds up to that--but I found the book's structure frustrating. What happens to the main character is awful--but the climax of the book, when the awfulness breaks forth, doesn't come out of what has come before, but rather takes both the characters and the reader by surprise. Where up to that point we've been inside of the protagonist's skin, we become distanced from her at that point.
But perhaps it's just...more
But perhaps it's just...more
Wow. This book is amazing. I stayed up until 3 am reading it the first night and finished it the next day. Achingly beautiful. Timeless for sure. Important. Incredible descriptions of pregnancy,labor and birth. Captures the ambivalence of being the go to caretaker. So emotional. Lots of tears and gasping moments. Loved the geographical details and the dialect. Loved the realism of hope indeed in such a seemingly hopeless situation. A delicious way to spend a chunk of time. I anticipate that thi...more
Shell's voice in A Swift Pure Cry enchanted me. She's every fifteen year old girl in the world, but her circumstances are less than desirable. The eldest of three children, Shell is on a personal journey to discover her place in life. Her mother has recently passed away, and her father falls head-long into alcoholic behavior. Reminiscent of Angela's Ashes not only because the story is set in Ireland but also because of the pure voice of the narrator, A Swift Pure Cry will certainly be a story th...more
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| The Ultimate Teen...: A Swift Pure Cry - Siobhan Dowd | 3 | 6 | May 11, 2013 11:01pm |
Siobhan Dowd was born to Irish parents and brought up in London. She spent much of her youth visiting the family cottage in Aglish, County Waterford and later the family home in Wicklow Town.
She attended a Catholic grammar school in south London and then gained a degree in Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. After a short stint in publishing, she joined the writer's organization PEN...more
More about Siobhan Dowd...
She attended a Catholic grammar school in south London and then gained a degree in Classics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. After a short stint in publishing, she joined the writer's organization PEN...more
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