Book description
Ita Doyle: 'In all my life I have lived in two houses, had two jobs,
and one husband. I'm a very interesting person'
Rory & Ita, Roddy Doyle's first non-fiction book, tells -
largely in their own words - the story of his parents' lives. They
remember every detail of their Dublin childhoods - the people, the
politics, idyllic times in the Wexford countryside for Ita, Rory's
apprenticeship as a printer. By the time they put down a deposit of
two hundred pounds for a house in Kilbarrack, Rory was working as a
compositor at the Irish Independent. By the time the first of
their four children was born he'd become a teacher, at the School of
Printing in Dublin. Kilbarrack began to change, and Ireland too.
Through their eyes we see the intensely Catholic society of their
youth being transformed into the vibrant, modern Ireland of today.
Both are marvellous talkers, so combined with Roddy Doyle's
legendary skill in illuminating ordinary experience, Rory & Ita
makes for a book of tremendous warmth and humanity.
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of nine
acclaimed novels, one collection of short stories and
Rory & Ita
, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
. His last book,
The Dead Republic
, was the final volume in the Henry Smart trilogy.
