The Granny

From Kirkus Reviews

The third installment of the Agnes Browne trilogy, in which O'Carroll (The Mammy, 1999; The Chisellers, p. 205) follows the fortunes and foibles of the Dublin widow and her large brood all the way to Agnes's happy end. Before she reaches that point, however, there's plenty of tribulation along the way, what with a son who lands in jail, another who runs off to England and breaks his mother's heart, a new grandchild to worry about, and the perpetual concerns of keeping body and soul together when you've got six children and no husband to rely on. But Agnes is not without her resources (a French boyfriend and a ready wit not least among them), plus her children are all in their 20s and (more or less) able to look after themselves now. O'Carroll is a popular stand-up comic, and he writes with an easy sense of humor that often becomes dangerously glib ("Sue White began every day in the office like a freshly uncorked bottle of champagne") but is usually winning and likable. If tear-jerkers put you off, however, this will not be your cup of tea. -- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description

Agnes Browne returns for her final, heartwarming adventure in Brendan O'Carroll's acclaimed trilogy of working-class Dublin life.

The New York Times Book Review praised Brendan O'Carroll's first novel, The Mammy, as "Cheerful... as unpretentious and satisfying as a home-cooked meal... with a delicious dessert of an ending." With the forthcoming second book in the trilogy, The Chisellers, and a movie about The Mammy (entitled Agnes Browne) on the horizon, the world is discovering O'Carroll's uniquely Irish blend of warmth and grittiness, comedy and pathos, as he elevates the lives of ordinary working-class Dublin people--and one extraordinary family--into tales that are small in size but epic in emotion. With the final installment, The Granny, our comedic and lovable heroine, Agnes Browne, has a French lover, six children in their twenties--including one in prison--and a wee grandchild of her own. But the world is spinning fast for Agnes--especially considering that her lover wants her to become "a sexual animal" and that her family's far-flung fortune is beyond her control. The members of the Browne family split up to make it in the world on their own until a tragedy brings the brood back together again--and love keeps them that way forever.

Praise for The Mammy

"Reads like Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes on Prozac... jaunty, charming... It's refreshing to enter O'Carroll's fun-loving, working-class Dublin world." --Entertainment Weekly

"How to lose weight: Read The Mammy. You will laugh your arse off and your tears will do away with your water-retention problem. Uproariously funny... with a Dickensian twist to it." --Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming