Michelle's corner

As humans, we can be the most beautiful, generous souls. We can also be the most selfish, hurtful, cruel beings to ever walk the earth. Only in our turn-of-the-century world are we starting to pick apart the, "What will the neighbours think," attitude that has been the cause of people doing some really damaging things; the wrong things for what we thought were the right reasons. We have also used religion as an excuse to do bad as well as a drive to do good. Welcome to the human race.

The blurb in the book already explains the foundation of Marie Therese's story, "In rural Ireland in 1950, a respectable widow has an affair with a visiting stranger." I'm spoiling nothing for you there.

Marie's account of her life is event-driven; but those with empathy will be able to feel the words and emotions behind them. The struggles that Marie has detailed here records the harshest of pain and anguish almost in the lightest of forms. Almost like Michelangelo saying of the Sistine Chapel, "Oh, it was something I knocked up before lunch." Read slowly, and read deeply, is my advice when picking up this book.

Marie doesn't paint herself as an angel. She also accounts for things like the scrumping and the other things that used to be done in defiance of the rules imposed. Overall, however, her heart is good natured and the book details how this was taken advantage of in her life by making her feel guilty; but finally she reached breaking point and her ambition drove her forward.

Chapter one deals with the orphanage and was the most difficult to read as it jumps around a bit. I couldn't get hold of a common thread; which was understandable as so many threads collided in that one major chunk of life; which one to pick?! The rest of the book continues chronologically and factually, with peeks here and there into the anguish and heartbreak.

A very tight line has been walked between exposing the difficulties of her life and also being respectful to those still living. Not all misfortune was at the hands of others and fate dealt a nasty card or two as well, all of which Marie battled with.

It is accounts like these that serve as a beacon for us to remember that no institution must be beyond firm inspection, that no belief system justifies the mistreatment of children, that mental abuse and guilt are weapons that can be wielded by someone regardless of their physical ability.

In all, this book will remain in my collection and I will read it every few years, as a reminder as to what we are capable of, both in darkness and in light, and that inner peace is a goal worth striving for.