The Fallen

£22.00

Following independence in 1922, Ireland began to chase a dream: to become the perfect Catholic nation. But purity had a price. The women and girls who did not conform – the wayward, the poor, the disabled, the abused – were purged from the streets. The Magdalene Laundries represented the deep end of this regime of social control. Thousands were sent to these institutions; each was perceived to have fallen in some way. Once locked inside, their hair was shorn off, their names were erased and they were put to work. They washed, they scrubbed and they prayed, labouring in often indefinite captivity in an attempt to salvage their souls. This is the forgotten story of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, told through the voices of those who endured them, the nuns who presided over them and the communities who lived alongside them.

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Description

When the gates of the last Magdalene Laundry closed in 1996, Ireland moved on. Or so it seemed.

‘Enraging … superb’ JOHN BANVILLE, Guardian
‘Remarkable’ Sunday Times
‘An extraordinary gift … both an education and a page-turner’ DOIREANN N+ GHR+OFA
‘Highly readable and intelligently engaging’ FINTAN O’TOOLE, TLS
‘Indispensable’ ANNE ENRIGHT
‘A terrific unearthing of Ireland’s shadowland. A landmark book’ RORY CARROLL
‘Vivid, fluent … a serious contribution to a subject that has still not been laid to rest’ Irish Times
‘Powerful … authoritative, passionate’ Mail on Sunday

Published to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the last Laundry’s closure, The Fallen is the forgotten story of the Magdalene Laundries, told through the voices of the women who endured them, the nuns who presided over them and the communities that lived alongside them.

Unflinching and compassionate, Louise Brangan draws on archives and survivors’ testimonies to dismantle long-held myths about what the Laundries were, who was sent to these places of violence and secrecy, and why. As we move from the past into the present, Brangan compels us not only to confront this shameful history, but to ask a deeper question: what do we choose to remember?

‘Engrossing ? it feels part novel’ MARY McCARTHY, Irish Independent
‘Critical, informed and beautifully written’ M¦IRÉAD ENRIGHT
‘A forensic … detailed and haunting history’ SE¦N O’HAGAN, Observer

Winner of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award

Read a sample here

Additional information

Weight 0.576 kg
Dimensions 24.1 × 16.5 × 3.4 cm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Hardback

Pages

368

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

362.7320922 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K

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