Reviews: The Women Behind the Door (5)

Paula, the woman who walked into doors, is back. She's sixty-six now, sober, a grandmother, a survivor, though still battling her past too.
As always with Dolye the writing style is direct, conversational, the less said delivering more,
While dealing with serious issues this is also a brilliant look at Dublin, the walk up Talbot Street, The Spire, the Deliveroo cyclist nearly knocking you on your arse!
Not the easiest read but an important one nonetheless and it reasserts Doyle’s dominance as one of the great Irish writers.

Pre-approved to read and review the new Roddy Doyle novel, “The Women Behind the Door,” I ordered a previous book of his, “The Woman Who Walked Into Doors,” which also features Paula Spencer. As an alcoholic and abused wife, she constantly made excuses for her husband Charlo, masking the abuse with excuses like "I walked into the door." She finally breaks free from this hell when she, as the New York Times said, “...stops being a battered wife when she becomes a protective mother.”

“The Women Behind the Door” picks up thirty years later. Paula is now sixty-six and seems fairly happy with her life. Her greatest joy, that her children are doing well, is suddenly shattered when her oldest daughter, Nicola– the perfect one, the one who was everything Paula was not– shows up at her doorstep, intent on abandoning her husband and family.

The Covid crisis has been going on for a while, and the women use this as a cover story for Nicola to stay separated from her family. Paula begins to see what she never wanted to see before– that her daughter has been far from perfect and bears emotional scars from her childhood. The credit Paula has given herself for tossing Charlo out– she has allowed it to cloud a deep-seeded guilt for failing her children.

“The Charlo damage, the real Charlo pain– it isn’t physical. It never was, once the bones were mended and the bruises faded back behind her skin. The real damage– she can’t face her children, not even in her imagination. They’re like a jury and she’s always guilty– she knows she’s guilty. Nothing will ever make her know or feel any different. He battered the mother out of her. “

In this mother-daughter drama, ghosts from the past refuse to stay restrained in the shadows and these two are compelled to confront what has lain deep within. Doyle examines how they attempt to see the past without illusion, striving to save their bond. It is a story marked by raw, brutal moments, yet interspersed with clever, witty interludes. Highly recommended.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

There are characters that are synonymous with their authors, and Paula Spencer is Roddy Doyle's Galatea, a woman who, by this third book, has lived many lives and is more than ready to relax into the person she has finally become comfortable with. But when her daughter returns to the nest, leaving her own life and family behind, the ghosts of the past and the pains of the present come forcefully to confront the little world that Paula has so carefully constructed around herself. Will Paula be able to look beyond her past choices, or will she always be the mistakes she made?

Doyle returns with a new novel that looks at Paula from all sides, and gives no tight, trite ending. I felt perched on Paula's shoulder, aware of her uncertainties, her reliance on detail to keep her on the straight and narrow, her over-thinking of what others might think of her. The narrative skips around in time, perhaps in a reflection of Paula's own loose relationship with her history and her present, and showing that there are no simple causes and effects in life. In the end, whatever Paula chose or faced in the past are not the only ways and means for her to live in her present; and that age does finally bring wisdom, no matter how hard earned.

A book to read between the lines: four stars.

This is the third book featuring Paula Spencer. I read both many years ago and have scant memory of the details. So I guess you could read this as a stand alone. Obviously if you want the full experience, you could go back and play catch up. I would have liked the time to do that myself, but... too many books!
So, Paula, now at the ripe old age of 66 is all set. She has a job, a person to share her life with and friends. She also has grown up children, the eldest of which Nicola is having her turn at a life-crisis. It appeared on the surface that Nicola is a successful wife and mother, but as we all know, what we show other people is rarely the truth of what we really feel inside.
Set in the relatively early days of covid, we first catch up with Paula as she, along with her best friend, is on the cusp of getting her first vaccine. It's a bit all spelled out and dragged out, that bit, it's still a bit too soon for me. But soon enough, our story really gets going when Nicola turns up at Paula's door having left her family. What follows then is a warts and all, frank mother and daughter series of conversations about growing up, the bad and the occasional good. The suffering and damage that Nicola experienced due to Paula's addictions and Charlo's abuse... The scars that never healed.
But I will leave you to read all about that. I will advise tissues and occasional breaks as it is all a bit heavy at times. Interspersed with lighter, funnier moments for balance though. It's totally character driven and the characters are all brilliantly created and develop as the book progresses. As well as covid, we also skirt round the cost of living crisis and trying to make ends meet.
Personally, I had a bad relationship with my mother. We never did the mother-daughter things that other did. I think we were too alike to be able to communicate properly. This book also did make me think about my own stuff. And that's not necessarily a bad thing...
All in all, a book that I will probably need to re-read to get the very best from it.

Following on from The Woman who Walked into Doors- 1996 ! where did the time go?- and Paula Spencer 18 years ago , we return to Paula and her life in 2021-22 during the Covid period.

This novel is full of Roddy Doyle's wit, warmth, pathos and love for one of contemporary literature's most unforgettable characters.
This is another powerful and challenging read; exploring the ongoing challenges within Paula's life as an ex alcoholic and surviving a violent marriage. but this time she is the one giving refuge to her daughter Nicola who leaves her family and 'escapes ' to her mum.

Told over monthly interludes and the ensuing events, Paula's humour and voice reflects upon recent circumstances ; life before lockdown and a new man; going for her vaccination with her close friends; trying to 'make- ends- meets' and the events surrounding Nicola.

In many senses this feels like a play- ( The Woman Who Walked into Doors did make the stage ) the voice of Paula conveys life to the reader/audience in all its raw power.

This is not an easy read- the legacy of covid and its impact is still raw with many and the fractious relationship between. other and daughter is difficult - but if you've read the previous novels then this is highly recommended