The Dublin Girls

A powerfully heartrending family saga of three sisters in 1950s Ireland

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The Dublin Girls

By: Cathy Mansell

Narrated by: Roisin Rankin

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About this listen

Dramatic, emotional and romantic, if you love Lorna Cook, Tracy Rees and Jenny Ashcroft, you'll love this gripping and heartrending novel from Cathy Mansell, author of A Place to Belong.

In 1950s Dublin, life is hard and jobs are like gold dust.

Nineteen-year-old Nell Flynn is training to be a nurse and planning to marry her boyfriend, Liam Connor, when her mother dies, leaving her younger sisters destitute. To save them from the workhouse, Nell returns to the family home - a mere two rooms at the top of a condemned tenement.

Nell finds work at a biscuit factory and, at first, they scrape through each week. But then eight-year-old Róisín, a delicate from birth, is admitted to hospital with rheumatic fever, and 15-year-old Kate, rebellious, headstrong and resentful of Nell taking her mother's place, runs away.

When Liam finds work in London, Nell stays to struggle on alone - her unwavering devotion to her sisters stronger even than her love for him. She's determined that one day the Dublin girls will be reunited, and only then will she be free to follow her heart.

Look for more gripping, heart-wrenching stories from Cathy Mansell - don't miss A Place to Belong, out now.

20th Century

Coming of Age

Fiction

Genre Fiction

Historical Fiction

Love, Dating & Attraction

Relationships

Women's Fiction

England

Heartfelt

20th Century Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Love, Dating & Attraction Relationships Women's Fiction England Heartfelt

Most relevant

Set in 1950’s Dublin, this novel tells the story of 3 girls and how they deal with the death of their parents and how they navigate their new life’s as orphans and young women.

Mansell’s writing is beautiful, she strikes the balance of being generous with information whilst giving us scope to explore and investigate the characters she is attempting to construct.

The 3 girls, Nell, Kate and Roisin have been living in my mind the last month. They feel so familiar and recognisable as people and Mansall’s ability to have me thinking about them beyond what’s on the page is incredible. The whole environment and world felt so vivid to me.

Whilst the plot is not always eventful, it’s always gripping and her ability to make us care so much about these girls is testament to her writing.

Mansall also manages to weave an educational thread through the narrative, gently guiding us and chiselling the environment to help befit the time. The constant reference between the UK and Ireland is a stark reminder of the differences of the two countries and the contrast in poverty and opportunity during the 50’s.

I also have to mention the narrator, Roisin Rankin. Her performance is flawless. Her delivery is crisp and precise. Her vocal ability is very impressive.

Throughout the Dublin Girls many characters are introduced and Rankin’s portrayal of these parts is not only specific but also so imaginative. The slightest change of accent, pitch or nasality allows my imagination to soar and Mansall’s writing to fly.

She flicks between characters with pinpoint precision, and her emotional vulnerability beams out and by the end of the novel had me in tears.

I will be keeping an eye out for Mansall’s next edition and I hope to hear Rankin’s voice in more In the future.