Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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book cover with girl under red duvet, lying on a pile of catholic funeral prayer cards

“On her First Holy Communion, Majella could remember sitting in the chapel for a long time, with Jesus stuck to the roof of her mouth, and her trying to peel him off with her tongue. Somehow she knew picking him off with her finger was all wrong.”

Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen

January 16, 2021 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Majella is the queen of coping; she has developed a system of avoiding eye contact, she gladly relies on years-long joke exchanges orchestrated by her customers and coworkers, and she is clear about people explaining idioms and small-town customs to her as a needed relief. She is also coping with the world around her; her uncle “died for the cause”, her IRA-adjacent father disappeared years ago, her mother is lost in a haze of whiskey, and her beloved grandmother has recently been beaten to death. […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: autistic voices, chip shop, ennui, irish literature, Michelle Gallen, neurodiverse narrator, Northern Ireland, slice of life, small town life, The Troubles, trauma

andtheIToldYouSos's CBR13 Review No:12 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: autistic voices, chip shop, ennui, irish literature, Michelle Gallen, neurodiverse narrator, Northern Ireland, slice of life, small town life, The Troubles, trauma ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

What the flying monkeys did I just read?

Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen

November 17, 2020 by BlackRaven 5 Comments

There no traditional action in Big Girl, Small Town. Yet, you are drawn into the book from page one. Michelle Gallen made me fall in love with a fictional character. She made me see myself in her. She made me want to root for this character who (on the surface) is not an overly likable person. Or at least, not at first. You watch as Majella (our heroine) live her life. Or what passes for living in a Northern Ireland town after “The Troubles” have […]

Filed Under: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, History Tagged With: coming-of-age, family, fathers & daughters, grandmohters, Michelle Gallen, Mothers & Daughters, Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics, Small Town & Rural, The Troubles

BlackRaven's CBR12 Review No:362 · Genres: Comedy/Humor, Fiction, History · Tags: coming-of-age, family, fathers & daughters, grandmohters, Michelle Gallen, Mothers & Daughters, Northern Ireland, Protestants and Catholics, Small Town & Rural, The Troubles ·
Rating:
· 5 Comments


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