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There are currently 24 member reviews
for Big Girl, Small Town
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Julie Z
Big Girl, Small Town
Set in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles", 27 year old Majella O'Neill (Jelly), is perfectly happy with her daily routine of working at the local fish and chip shop, and then coming home to watch Dallas. She lives with her alcoholic mother; her father is long gone, and her Gran has recently been murdered. Gallen does a good job of having us view Jelly's tedious life, and the dialect, although a bit difficult to decipher at the onset, lends a wonderful air to the feeling of the book. If diagnosed, Jelly would be on the autism spectrum, but aside from wanting to live on her own, she seems perfectly happy with her situation. An endearing look at a memorable character.
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Patricia T. (Fallbrook, CA)
Big Girl Small Town
The Big Girl is Majella O'Neil, and the Small Town is Aghybogey, on the Irish border, where the Troubles are in the past but there is still plenty of tension. Majella lives with, and takes care of, her alcoholic mother, and she works in the town Fish and Chip Shop, the chipper. A lot of action takes place in the chipper, we learn about the town inhabitants though their transactions over the counter, who always eats what and their jokes, and who is doing what to who around town. She is good at her job, and being a clean freak, keeps the place sparkling. Her life has been defined by three tragedies: the death of her uncle in an explosion; the consequent disappearance of her adored father; finally the horrible death of her beloved grandmother, attached by thugs at home in her caravan. Majella's life is mundane, depressing, and grim. In her room she watches reruns of Dallas, her favorite show, over and over, absorbing life lessons from the lead characters. Those readers who are fastidious about language and bodily functions may cringe a bit here and there, maybe a lot. In spite of this the book is hilarious and funny, it is entertaining, original, dark. The phonetic depiction of the local dialect is dead on, though the list of Irish slang words promised in the retail edition will help with the translations.
Majella gets an unexpected life altering surprise when she inherits the family farm, left to her in Grandma's will. Now she has status, she sees a light at the end of her tunnel, she will go for it.
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Joan P. (Owego, NY)
Big Girl Small Town
Big Girl, Small Town is set in times of truce in Northern Ireland. There is still animosity toward the occupying English and uneasiness between the Catholic and Protestant townspeople.
Majella has lost her uncle who was involved with the IRA, her father has disappeared, and her grandmother has been assaulted and killed in her home. She is a stocky girl whose life is depressingly routine. Majella works each night in a fish and chips shop serving the same customers, hearing the same jokes, and then goes home to an alcoholic mother and a cold, lonely house. She seems to accept the dreariness of her life and expresses no anger at it's hopelessness.
Among all the darkness you will find loving people, hearty laughter, and marvelous characters. Fans of Edna O'Brien and Frank McCourt will find this a good read. Not for everyone but I couldn't put it down.
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Laure R. (Fresno, CA)
Big Girl, Small Town
I looked forward to this read, believing it was to be "wildly entertaining", even "darkly hilarious" according to reviews. Upon meeting Majella O'Neill, I found very little amusing. I did, however, become involved with Majella and her little community and found it very interesting and sad.
She grew up in the small village of Aghyogey in an area of Northern Ireland slowly recovering from the Troubles. She and her alcoholic mother still reside there in a deteriorating home in a deteriorating neighborhood. Her father disappeared a few years prior under suspicious circumstances, likely related to the Troubles, and her beloved grandmother was murdered in her rural home recently. No one has been arrested for this crime.
Majella's main contact with the community happens at the chip shop, where she has worked for several years. Here she is expected to interact with the local customers and dislikes doing so. Her coworker, Marty, is generally kind to her. They have known each other since childhood. The customers include many unusual local characters, some quite amusing.
Occasionally she goes to the local pub, drinks more than she should, and engages in sex, which she does like. This activity is on her list of "likes". That's a short list. Many things are on the "dislike" list, first and foremost being Other People.
The writing was excellent. Characters speaking with an Irish accent stopped being a chore to read in short order and I enjoyed the novelty of it and the flavor it gave the story. The last few pages of this story finally let in a ray of hope for Majella's future, thank heavens. I am waiting for more from this talented author.
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Lauren T. (Orlando, FL)
Big Girl Small Town
Big Girl Small Town takes the reader through a week in the life of Majella O'Neill, a woman in her 20s who works at a chip shop and lives with her alcoholic mother. Majella's father disappeared years before, during the time of the Troubles. Her grandmother, her father's mother, has been murdered, and the police are searching for her murderer.
The book is written in a series of vignettes under headings denoting things Majella either likes or doesn't (mostly the latter). We meet the chip shop's other employees and customers, all residents of Majella's small town, Aghybogey.
Majella knows what she doesn't like about each customer, but needs Marty's insights and taste for gossip to flesh out her understanding of their lives. She tells us that she has difficulty figuring out people's emotions from looking at their faces, a sign that she may be on the autism spectrum.
Majella is a sympathetic main character with much to say, mostly about her likes and dislikes. I found the book enjoyable but wished when I had finished reading it that more of the loose ends had been tied up.
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Joan V. (Miller Place, NY)
A Side Order of Fries Please
I had a hard time deciding how to rate this book. At first, I thought two stars but as I progressed, I began to like it more mostly because of Majella the main character. Some readers might be put off by the style of writing which was in a STRONG Irish accent and no quotation marks. Ms. Gallen set the book in a small town in Northern Ireland that still has signs of the Troubles. The British arrest people who come back with black eyes and bruised faces. Majella's Uncle Bobby was in the IRA and is considered a hero by some in the town, her own father's sympathies were definitely with the South.
We are introduced to lots of characters in the town all with colorful nicknames and the only humor I found in the novel was the description of how they got them. You really got the claustrophobic feel of living in a small town - the hopelessness and resignation. The ending was abrupt and I would like to believe that Majella was able to move on to a better life. One of the town characters was arrested, we never found out why; we also don't know what happened to her father and that makes me hope for a sequel. After reading Big Girl Small Town you will definitely want to head to your nearest chipper for some fries.
Ms. Gallen is a good storyteller and I would definitely read her next book.
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Millicent Gallun
So disappointed...
I just knew I was going to love this book. My great grand parents were a "Mixed Marriage" from Ballymcnab, Co Armaugh in Northern Ireland who had to head for the USA after they got married during The Troubles. My daughter and her family are Expats in Dublin. I have been to Ireland five times in the past two years. I read the Irish Times everyday . I read Irish literature extensively. I grew up surrounded by Irish relatives from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NYC. I am Catholic and love every minute of The Derry girls. And on and on...
However, I could barely finish the book.
Maybe it is because I read it during this global pandemic and my spirits are dragging or maybe because the presidential election has left me drained or maybe because I wanted to slap most of the characters in the book who treated Majella so cruelly or maybe the unrelenting filth of her home disgusted me and the soul killing grayness of her life wore me down or maybe the overwhelming sadness of it all just overwhelmed me.
Or was my reaction to reading this just what the author meant to pull forth from me? I did not feel the humor others mentioned; these were not loving, kind, eccentric characters. These were badly damaged, worn down people without coping skills. Majella does have a chance at the end because of her Gran but can she pull it off with her limited abilities and no support from anyone who has her back, besides her now deceased Gran?
I always think the mark of a good book for me is how long it remains with me after I turn the last page. This one seems to be sticking around in my head but I really do not like the sadness it left behind.
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