Cailíní Beaga Ghleann na mBláth

Eilís Ní Dhuibhne was elected to Aosdána, Ireland’s official ‘assembly of artists’. She is widely respected as a versatile writer in both English and Irish. Cailíní Beaga Ghleann na mBláth is Éilís’ second novel in the Irish language; her first novel in Irish Dúnmharú sa Daingean went to a third printing, a rare event for a novel published in Irish. Máire is a successful journalist and mother of two bright and beautiful teenage children. She is happily married to Muiris, architect and nice guy. Just when everything in her life seems right and the perfect happiness she has always longed for finally within reach, things go disastrously wrong. The idyll is shattered. Máire begins to remember a childhood holiday in an Irish college which, like her life, had promised perfect happiness but delivered something very different. A dark suppressed memory is gradually excavated from the depths of her consciousness. By reclaiming the hidden secrets of her own past Maire reaches an understanding of her present. This is an entertaining lively novel which deals with serious issues: the difficulties of balancing career and family responsibilities, teenage angst, and the insecurity of the human condition. Above all, it explores the healing power of memory.