I decided to re-read this before reading the sequel Paula Spencer. I had forgotten just how good this book is, just how well Doyle does a female protagonist. The book is painful and sad and unflinching in it's descriptions of marital abuse and alcoholism but as always, Doyle adds in warmth and humor to make it all hurt less.

After my re-read I'm not sure that I want to read the sequel. I don't want to ruin the image in my head with a new story that might not be as good. Plus on the jacket it says that Paula finds a new man in the new book-I don't know that I can bear it if the story becomes a cutesy love story.

Roddy Doyle tells the story of Paula Spencer, a woman in an abusive marraige who has developed a drinking problem herself. Through flashbacks we learn about Paula's adolescence and courtship with her husband and we learn about the devastating abuse she suffered at his hands. The book is heartbreaking and gut-wrenching and so well done.