Martha Long: 5 books

"Not for the faint of heart, Long's story is a gritty, grueling, and heartbreaking testament to one girl's unbreakable spirit."—*Publishers Weekly, *starred review When Martha Long's feckless mother hooks up with the Jackser ("that bandy aul bastard"), and starts having more...

**The next installment of the Ma books—all bestsellers in Ireland and the UK—brings readers on the journey of Martha's first months of freedom in Dublin after leaving the convent where she spent her early adolescence. ** In the latest chapter of Martha Long's autobiographical series, Martha...

After numerous arrests for shoplifting, Martha is sent to the convent where, the judge rules, she is to get an education. Martha is relieved to be out of the clutches of her horrible drunken stepfather, Jackser, and her feckless mother, Sally, but anxious about what awaits. Her days in the convent...

Sixteen-year-old Martha's luck is finally changing. Taken in by a kind young priest, Father Ralph Fitzgerald, and his wealthy mother, she gets a taste of "how the other half lives" and resolves to make a better life for herself once and for all. Soon she's off to school to become a secretary:...

Lilly and Ceily Carney are only seven and twelve when their mother is cruelly taken from them, leaving them at the mercy of the Church and the authorities. This is a terrifying prospect in 1950s Dublin, where it is likely that the girls will end up in one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalen laundries...