Description |
285 pages : black and white illustrations ; 23 cm. |
Summary |
You don't have to be from Chicago or Irish to fall in love with Bridie, the Gaelic speaking, fresh-from-Eire heroine of Bridie's Boy. Tom Brennan, the ex-seminarian has and by 1953 they have five lasses, all born first and six lads."How did you pull that one off?" Tom is often asked. "Flipped the matttress," he says. The author,Sean, was born tenth and for feree, a special ten for one deal from the Catholic hospital. The brood migrates west to "Pleasantville" Oak Park in search of safe environs and settles into "Cloonmoore" a glorious Victorian in need of repair and assimilationl It's in her kitchen that Bridie applies her unique style; baking luscious soda bread, reading tea leaves and extending an extra dose of love for all who enter especially the recalcitrant Sean, her biggest test who challenges her every bromide. "I don't know if I'll ever let him in the hosue again," she says to the Monsignor assigned to cleanse the lad's soul. Bridie's Boy does for the Irish what "I Remember Mama" did for Norwegians and all Americans with immigrant mothers, and "Cheaper by the Dozen" did for big families. Enoy Bridie and her brood -- and shed a tear in bewtween the hearty laughs. |
Subject |
Brennan, Sean -- Family.
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Irish American families -- Illinois -- Oak Park.
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Local Subject |
Local author.
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Genre |
Autobiographies.
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ISBN |
9781495345135 (trade pbk.) |
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1495345130 (trade pbk.) |
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