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Big Girl, Small Town

By: Michelle Gallen
Narrated by: Nicola Coughlan
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Publisher's Summary

Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award.

Stuff Majella knows

  • God doesn't punish men with baldness for wearing ladies' knickers
  • Banana-flavoured condoms taste the same as nutrition shakes
  • Not everyone gets a volley of gunshots over their grave as they are being lowered into the ground

Stuff Majella doesn't know

  • That she is autistic
  • Why her ma drinks
  • Where her da is

Other people find Majella odd. She keeps herself to herself, she doesn't like gossip and she isn't interested in knowing her neighbours' business. But suddenly everyone in the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up wants to know all about hers.

Since her da disappeared during the Troubles, Majella has tried to live a quiet life with her alcoholic mother. She works in the local chip shop (Monday-Saturday, Sunday off), wears the same clothes every day (overalls, too small), has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, nuked in the microwave) and binge watches Dallas (the best show ever aired on TV) from the safety of her single bed. She has no friends and no boyfriend, and Majella thinks things are better that way.

But Majella's safe and predictable existence is shattered when her grandmother dies, and as much as she wants things to go back to normal, Majella comes to realise that maybe there is more to life. And it might just be that from tragedy comes Majella's one chance at escape.

©2020 Michelle Gallen (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited

Critic Reviews

"Milkman meets Derry Girls. A cracking read." (Sinead Moriarty)

"A thrillingly fresh, provocative and touching voice." (Marian Keyes)

"Bawdy yet beautiful, full of everyday tragedy, absurdity and truth. I grew extraordinarily attached to Majella." (Sara Baume)

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A small Irish life

Majella is an interesting character, but she really does not lead an interesting life, despite what happened immediately before the week depicted in this book - the murder of her grandmother. As much as possible, Majella tries to keep her life pretty normal during that week, working her shifts at the local chippie, looking after her alcoholic mother, and watching her beloved Dallas DVDs. The only real differences were her attendance at the funeral, being summoned to the reading of the will at a local solicitor's office, and the occasional comment from townfolk. Perhaps also there is the triggering of memories from her childhood, from that time before her father disappeared...

Although I enjoyed the audio, with actress Nicola Coughlan's performance giving the story a very authentic feel, I do wonder if I'd have got more out of it from a text edition? The timestamps were easy enough to follow, but the list items were completely lost on me. In the end I'm left with an impression of a pitiable woman with perhaps the glimmer of a brighter future around the corner, and the unshakeable knowledge that I do not EVER want to work in a chip shop.

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