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wordsofclover 's review for:
Big Girl, Small Town
by Michelle Gallen
I received this book from Hachette in exchange for an honest review.
Majella is a big girl, living in a small world, and for the moment, she's actually okay with it. At 27 years of age, Majella's world is fairly routine - she works the evening to early morning shift in the local chipper in Athybogey, and then goes home, eats her fish and chip supper before bed. Then in the morning, she looks after her mother, who is an alcoholic, before repeating the previous evening's routine. And once a weekend, she goes out for a few scoops in the local pub, and maybe she gets the ride.
This was a really charming book in all of its vulgarity and cussing that kind of wrapped me up in the smell of vinegary chips and the taste of sugary coke at the end of the day! Majella is a fascinating character to follow, and I loved her for the matter of fact way she viewed the world and how she dealt with everyone in her life - from her chipper colleague she gets the ride from now and again, to her mother who has always been a handful.
Majella appears to be on the autism spectrum, but I loved that her quirks and oddities didn't stop her doing anything she wanted to do. The only time she really hid her quirks were her tics around her mother because her mother was, well, a selfish git!
This book only follows a week of Majella's life, with each chapter spanning one day. It's only a few days since Majella buried her granny - who was attacked and ending up dying from her injuries. I feel like the reader saw huge character development in Majella from Monday to Sunday as progress was made in her granny's case, to just how Majella began making small changes to make her life a bit nicer - like buying herself a new duvet!
Nothing really 'happens' in this book but it has the charm that comes with a small Irish town, and the run of the mill characters you expect to see in such places. The way Majella thinks and communicates with people is fun to read, and downright funny in other parts.
Majella is a big girl, living in a small world, and for the moment, she's actually okay with it. At 27 years of age, Majella's world is fairly routine - she works the evening to early morning shift in the local chipper in Athybogey, and then goes home, eats her fish and chip supper before bed. Then in the morning, she looks after her mother, who is an alcoholic, before repeating the previous evening's routine. And once a weekend, she goes out for a few scoops in the local pub, and maybe she gets the ride.
This was a really charming book in all of its vulgarity and cussing that kind of wrapped me up in the smell of vinegary chips and the taste of sugary coke at the end of the day! Majella is a fascinating character to follow, and I loved her for the matter of fact way she viewed the world and how she dealt with everyone in her life - from her chipper colleague she gets the ride from now and again, to her mother who has always been a handful.
Majella appears to be on the autism spectrum, but I loved that her quirks and oddities didn't stop her doing anything she wanted to do. The only time she really hid her quirks were her tics around her mother because her mother was, well, a selfish git!
This book only follows a week of Majella's life, with each chapter spanning one day. It's only a few days since Majella buried her granny - who was attacked and ending up dying from her injuries. I feel like the reader saw huge character development in Majella from Monday to Sunday as progress was made in her granny's case, to just how Majella began making small changes to make her life a bit nicer - like buying herself a new duvet!
Nothing really 'happens' in this book but it has the charm that comes with a small Irish town, and the run of the mill characters you expect to see in such places. The way Majella thinks and communicates with people is fun to read, and downright funny in other parts.