The waking of Willie Ryan

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12.99

Willie Ryan returns to his home town in ‘the great central plain of Ireland’, having escaped from the insane asylum where he was committed, and unvisited, by his devout Catholic family for twenty-five years. The given pretext for his commitment was an attack on his sister-in-law, Mary Ryan, wife of his brother Michael. The true reason: an affair with a hedonistic young man who introduced him to art, literature and music. In this exposee; of the ‘petty bourgeois snobbishness, hypocrisies and pretensions of the ‘little grocer’s republic’ of 1950s Ireland, nothing evil happens as long as it is not seen. Through Willie’s piercing vision, we see the truth of his brother Michael’s grief and remorse, his nephew Chris’s fear of freedom, and the perceptiveness of asylum nurse Halloran. As Willie prepares for death, he agrees to a private family mass, setting the stage for a confrontation with father Mannix, one of those complicit in putting him away.

ISBN: 9781843510499

In stock

Willie Ryan returns to his home town having escaped from the asylum where he was committed by his devout Catholic family for twenty-five years. The given pretext for his commitment was an attack on his sister-in-law, Mary Ryan. The true reason: an affair with a hedonistic young man who introduced him to art, literature and music.

Additional information

Weight0.3 kg
Dimensions19.8 × 12.9 × 2 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

240

Language

English

Edition
Dewey
Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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