From the Booker Prize-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha comes a heartrending and beautifully written novel of a woman emerging from an abusive marriage. "A mixture of spirit and grief . . . a painful and beautiful story, a tale where the sadness and despair are redeemed because they are never denied".--San Francisco Chronicle.
Roddy Doyle follows Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, winner of the Booker Prize, and The Commitments with another remarkable book that readers will find funny, sexy, and sad. He takes an unflinching look at the life of Paula Spencer as she struggles to regain her dignity after marriage to an abusive husband and a worsening drinking problem. Capturing both her vulnerability and her strength, Doyle gives Paula a voice that is real and unforgettable.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
"I changed. I noticed it then.":
To say that I enjoyed The Woman Who Walked into Doors would not be the right description. The book is a rather harrowing depiction of a woman in the grip of spousal abuse and alcoholism. A woman who tries, in a now familiar story, to reconcile the idea of a man who loves her with a man who beats her. I was suspicious about anyone who isn't Paula Spencer (or someone very close to her) claiming the experience of poverty, alcoholism, and abuse in a first person narrative fiction. As it happens, however,... more info
Sad story, lovely main character:
I would recommend this book to a friend. It is not a happy story, but the main character is immensely likable, and her story is interesting and worth reading. I liked Paula Spencer. She's funny, insightful, vulnerable and charming. She is also flawed, which makes her seem very real to me. It was hard to read this book though, because the shadow of her tragedy creeps across every page. Doyle waits until the final chapters to tell us, though, about Paula's battering at the hands of a man she loves, her... more info
The woman who walked into doors:
I read that Roddy Doyle was J K Rowling's favorite author. His fiction was too real and depressing. Plus it was hard to follow as he jumped from the past to present day often.
Ambivelent:
I think my main problem with this book was the language. I found all the cursing distracting, and made the flow of the book choppy. I gave it three stars because if you take all the cursing out of the book, it was quite good. Doyle did an excellent job in describing the life of a physically abused wife, I was completely drawn into her life from page one.
