Every Inch of Her
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
The sisters at the Good Shepherd Convent in Dublin’s North Wall don’t quite know what to make of their newest refugee. Philo announces herself at their door one Sunday evening with the words, “God pointed me here.” A large presence, weighing 240 pounds and bearing tattoos on her arm, Philo smokes, swears and loves to eat. She is also a mother of five and in flight from her abusive husband, Tommo.
In no time at all, Philo has made herself indispensable. At the Senior Daycare Center, she gets the old folks talking to one another, singing old favorites, and playing bingo again. And with all the love she’s got to give, it’s only natural that Cap and Dina—two people at the Center long separated by a bitter feud—come together again.
By turns comical and tender, Peter Sheridan’s novel is a beautifully written portrait of an unforgettable woman who touches every life she meets through the sheer force of being herself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A 240-pound Dublin housewife with five children and an abusive husband takes refuge with a bevy of nuns in this boisterously cheery and raunchy first novel by Irish theater director Sheridan. Pining for a fresh start, Philo shrugs off her responsibilities and plops herself on the doorstep of the Sacred Heart convent in the crumbling North Wall neighborhood of Dublin. The nuns are startled at first particularly Sister Rosaleen, who's put in charge of swearing, smoking, tattooed Philo but Philo soon makes herself indispensable, entertaining the senior citizens at the convent's Day Centre with games of bingo and Blind Date. Among other good deeds, she reunites Cap and Dina, two Day Centre regulars who've been feuding for 40 years over the neighborhood's vegetable trade. Still, Philo's future as a nun seems unlikely, and Philo longs to be reunited with her children, who've been dumped at an orphanage by their shiftless father, Tommo. Tommo pronounces himself ready to turn over a new leaf, but Philo's been burned before. Will they ever be a family again and is that what Philo wants? Sheridan aims to deliver rollicking good fun with a darker edge, and despite some strained humor, for the most part he succeeds.
