The Secret Scripture - Sebastian Barry

A stunning, beautifully observed novel, The Secret Scripture is a raw insight into Ireland's turbulent history and its devastating consequences on the life of a young woman.

The novel tells the story of Roseanne McNulty, a 99-year-old woman who has spent most of her adult life in a mental hospital. As she approaches her hundredth birthday, Roseanne writes her memoir, revealing a tragic web of misery that leads to Roseanne's incarceration. Throughout the novel, Roseanne's pyschiatrist Dr Grene attempts to analyse her, but more often analyses himself as Roseanne resists his questions and enquiries.

The Secret Scripture is a stunning read, which slowly unfurls the tragic truth behind Roseanne ending up in a mental home. As a girl, Roseanne is beautiful, loving and naive. She idolises her father, who includes her on his adventures working in a graveyard and as a rat catcher. But by being included, Roseanne is exposed to horrors. She sees her father struggle against poverty and accidentally cause a fire which kills more than a hundred children at an orphanage. Soon after, Roseanne, 16, is left to care for her mother alone when her father is found hanged. She quits school and gets a job as her mother slowly descends into madness.

It is from there that the tragedy which blights her life continue. Blonde and beautiful, Roseanne becomes an object of lust for older men in Sligo, one of whom attempts to rape her. Soon she marries but after being accused of adultery the marriage falls apart and a few years after she finds herself in a mental hospital.

The novel is a raw and disturbing insight into Ireland's history, with Roseanne falling victim to the prejudices of the civil war, varying religions and the men who control her. With no parents to protect her, Roseanne's short-lived independence as a waitress is chipped away when she marries. She is moved to the outskirts of the village, can no longer work, her mother is committed and she is kept under the watchful eye of her husband and the community around her.

Barry uses parallels to expose the extreme injustice Roseanne faces. She is cut off, ostracised and her marriage is annulled beyond her power after she is seen meeting a man by her local priest, despite nothing ever happening. In contrast, Dr Grene is punished less obviously by his wife Bet after his infidelity. Roseanne is judged savagely by her husband, her community and even the Catholic church for her perceived "nymphomiania"; Dr Grene is simply subjected to separate bedrooms.

A fascinating insight into attitudes towards gender, sexuality, religion and madness in Ireland in the 1920s and 30s, The Secret Scripture is a brilliantly observed and dosturbing read.

My next read: The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson