Search - The Woman Who Walked into Doors

A good novel about a 39 year old Irish woman who is a wife, mother and works as a housecleaner.
She tells her life story from childhood thru marriage showing her strengths and vulnerabilities.

This book evoked many emotions in me. I find it amazing that this man can write so poignantly in a woman's voice. I found the abuse difficult to read but overall enjoyed this book. I love his sense of humor and as a woman can remember and relate to many emotions that Paula experienced throughout her life. I will be reading more of Roddy Doyle in future.

This was an interesting and fast read. And it certainly had a clear, Irish voice. It really painted a portrait of this woman, Paula Spencer. It seemed like Roddy Doyle had seen a photograph of this scarred, missing-toothed cleaning woman, who had somehow retained a sense of beauty - either past or present and then managed to capture her story. I guess that's what the entire book felt like to me - a photograph, a window into someone's soul.
I am very interested in reading the sequel, _Paula Spencer_, since it didn't seem like a sequel would be necessary by the end of it. There were, of course, unanswered questions - why did Carmel hate her father so? What happened to Paula's older son? And perhaps those are the types of questions that will be addressed in the sequel...

This book is right on with the depiction of an abused, battered woman. She has all the same excuses and rationales, and finally finds courage not for herself, but for her daughter. The author does an excellent job of showing us that she grows up an average, normal child and teenager... thus giving lie to the idea that women who put up with abuse have common backgrounds. They simply don't... and there's no best way for them to escape their desperation.