A Greyhound of A Girl
Summary:
This book tells the story of four generations of one family: Mary, a twelve-year-old girl; her mother, Scarlett; Mary’s grandmother, Emer; and her great-grandmother, Tansey, a ghost. Mary is going through a difficult time when Tansey appears to her first: her best friend has moved away, her beloved grandmother is dying, and she is on the brink of being a teenager. The book explores the powerful connections between these women, whose lives are all at very different stages and have been shaped in very different ways and shows us how much they have in common too.
Edited by: Dublin City University
Comment:
This is a nuanced exploration of the intergenerational bonds between four women. The solidarity and community of strong female relationships, with women who are living and dead, provides an important foundation for Mary’s coming-of-age and the coming to terms with the loss of her grandmother. Male characters are marginal; Mary notes the awkwardness of her older teenage brothers around her grandmother, Emer, who is dying, and their inability to talk to their grandmother openly and who have deemed themselves too old for affection. Mary considers how different they are to her, like strangers, even though only a few years older than her, and thinks astutely how lonely they must be. The lack of such strong male familial relationships is notable in its absence.