Araby

Araby
Gretta Mulrooney

A funny and intensely moving portrait of childhood, death and a man’s relationship with his larger-than-life mother.This poignant, witty, warm-hearted yet unsentimental novel charts the turbulent relationship of a mother and son.As a young boy, Rory Keenan finds his mother bewilderingly and embarrassingly eccentric as his childhood is punctuated by hilarious, cringe-making episodes caused entirely by her unpredictable behaviour and bizarre habits and exploits. Kitty has a huge appetite – for food, for mysterious imaginary illnesses and for strange hobbies. Her irrepressible, opinionated nature ensures that she (and against his will, Rory too) is the centre of any attention to be had.At the end of Kitty’s life, Rory, now a grown man, begins to come to terms with his confused feelings for Kitty – he loves her devotedly, but nevertheless her cussedness still infuriates him. As memories and secrets from his family’s stormy past in Ireland and London echo through the tragedy of her final, very real illness we are given an outstandingly vivid and compassionate vision of life, love and death.

COPYRIGHT (#ulink_6eabc34b-223c-508a-bafb-576caa814b88)

Flamingo

An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublisher 1 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9GF

Published by Flamingo 1999

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

First published in Great Britain by Flamingo 1998

Copyright © Gretta Mulrooney 1998

Gretta Mulrooney asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

The poem ‘On the Death of His Wife’ by Muireadach O’Dalaigh, translated by Frank O’Connor is reprinted by permission of the Peters, Fraser and Dunlop Group Limited on behalf of the Estate of Frank O’Connor

Photograph of Gretta Mulrooney by Niall McDiarmid

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

Source ISBN 0 00 655101 7

Ebook Edition © March 2016 ISBN: 9780007485291

Version: 2016-03-16

Set in Galliard by Rowland Phototypesetting Ltd, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that it which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

PRAISE (#ulink_6dd51212-d3c4-5808-8e7b-338976332d52)

From the British and Irish reviews for Araby:

‘Wonderful.’

MAEVE BINCHY The Late, Late Show

‘I loved it. Such a sweet story, without being in the least bit sentimental, and very moving without being harrowing. There are moments when the reader is absolutely there so acute is this novelist’s eye and ear.’

MARGARET FORSTER

‘[An] engaging novel … A topic as forbidding as the death of a parent can certainly do with some uplifting warmth and humour, and Mulrooney is good at providing this, making the reader feel like a guest in the family kitchen rather than a voyeur prying on the protagonist’s feelings.’

Guardian

‘Araby is a wonderfully funny view of Irish motherhood, but Mulrooney also evokes powerful emotions as Rory comes to appreciate quite how much his infuriating but irreplaceable mother means to him. Highly recommended.’

Literary Review

‘It’s the cringe-making moments that Rory Keenan cannot forget. His mother created a lot of them. Kitty was bizarre, unpredictable and addicted to imaginary illnesses. Now she’s heading towards the end of life, and as Rory struggles to come to terms with this, he sees his parents – beautifully drawn characters – in a new light. Hysterically funny, desperately sad, always compassionate but painfully touching.’

Choice

Further reviews overleaf

‘A poignant, warm-hearted (and very funny) London Irish novel … A story about childhood and death and laying to rest the demons of the past.’

Northern Lights

‘Araby is a tour de force of humanity, a recognition of the complexities of filial and parental loves … With Kitty, Mulrooney delivers a remarkable and triumphant character in this, her first novel.’

RTE Guide

‘This poignant novel has the ability to play havoc with your heart strings, making you laugh and cry at the same time.’

Ulster News Letter

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS (#ulink_24f989b3-d539-5938-912c-9a5481281dfd)

With thanks to East Midlands Arts, who offered encouragement and financial support at the start of my writing career.

A special thank you to my agent, David O’Leary, whose friendship, humour and savvy have been magical.

DEDICATION (#ulink_71375f2d-da00-5ccb-ba7e-4ac8837c2611)

To Peg and her grandson, Darragh and for Kath, Hugh, Jim and Mary; my very own diaspora.

CONTENTS

Cover (#u0632d8b7-3960-58d8-bc76-a4f9b4dfca21)

Title Page (#ue322c315-6f3a-5efc-a17d-2aacc87656d5)

Copyright (#ulink_e6935810-e4db-5f19-bc45-d6b75a2a3c64)

Praise (#ulink_d2bf8a3a-eecd-5cec-b0be-694b13e7df3d)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_c057925c-a0f5-5c85-bd31-519fe2a7b2b5)