A review by mcmbennett
The Magdalen Girls by V.S. Alexander

4.0

I was lucky enough to win copies of this book for one of my book groups. It tells a fascinating story about Dublin’s convent of The Sisters of the Holy where “problem” girls were sent to live. Society was harsh, and sometimes the girls really hadn’t done anything wrong like one of the protagonists, Teagan Tiernan, whose only sin was being a beauty. Her beauty attracted the attention of a new priest who lusted after her. After his confession to the bishop, the bishop feared a scandal might follow. To prevent anything from advancing, he went to Teagan’s family and made arrangements for Teagan to be sent there. Teagan also forms a bond there with another girl, Nora Craven, whose poor family sent her there to get her away from her boyfriend. These girls had to work in the Magdalen laundry located on the convent grounds. This was not a warm and loving convent that the girls were sent to. They were basically held as prisoners, working long agonizing hours, kept from contact with the outside world, and suffered horrific and cruel and treatment and punishments.

Although the book felt a little slow in the beginning, I enjoyed learning about something I did not previously know about. I actually had difficulty remembering that the book was taking place in 1962 because it was so hard to believe such things could be happening in such recent history. It was unbelievable how many people could overlook the atrocities and make justifications for what was happing. I did enjoy the friendship that developed, and although the subject was hard to read about, I’m glad that I learned about this terrible spot of history. The book does have a bit of mystery as well about a secret past of one of the sisters.

You can read my reviews on my blog: marysreadallaboutit.wordpress.com