Ma, I'm Gettin Meself a New Mammy

Description

From the bestselling author of Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes Aged thirteen, Martha is rescued by the courts from the clutches of her evil stepfather, Jackser, and her feckless mother, Sally. After numerous arrests for shoplifting, a judge rules that she is to be sent to a convent school with the instruction that she is to get an education. Her initial relief at escaping the abuse and neglect she suffered at home is, however, short-lived, as she soon realises that there are many forms of cruelty in this life. As she says, 'You can have a full belly, but your heart can be very empty.' Ostracised by the other children for being a 'street kid' and put to back-breaking work by the nuns, she leads a lonely existence, her only joy coming from the books she devours and her mischievous sense of humour. Desperate for love and a little place where she feels she belongs, despite all that she has suffered Martha retains her compassion for others and still continues to hope for a brighter future when she will be free to make her own way in life.

Martha Long was born in Dublin in the early 1950s and still lives there today. She has written seven critically acclaimed volumes of autobiography, including the bestselling Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes. Run, Lily, Run is her fiction debut.

[Martha's] humour, verve and inextinguishable spark of hope always shine through, which is what makes her book so appealing * Irish Independent * A born survivor, Martha is undoubtedly also a born storyteller * The Star *