I'll Know It When I See It: A Daughter's Search for Home in Ireland

Carey, Alice

ISBN 10: 060960984X / ISBN 13: 9780609609842

Published by Clarkson Potter, 2002

About this Item

First Edition. First edition.

Seller Inventory # mon0003803774

Bibliographic Details

• Title: I'll Know It When I See It: A Daughter's Search for Home in Ireland
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication Date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 060960984X
• ISBN 13: 9780609609842
• Binding: hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Includes dust jacket.

About this title

Synopsis

As a young girl, Alice Carey realized that “home” can mean different things. The only child of poor Irish immigrants, her isolated childhood in a cold-water flat in Queens is transformed when her mother becomes the maid to legendary Broadway producer Jean Dalrymple. In Miss Dalrymple’s Upper East Side townhouse, young Alice absorbs with delight a sophisticated theatrical culture that includes encounters with such notables as Jed Harris and Marilyn Monroe. Then, a visit to Ireland with her mother thrusts the girl into another novel culture, one that simultaneously enchants and traumatizes her.

When Alice returns to Ireland as an adult, she and her husband serendipitously find and fall in love with a ruined Georgian farmhouse. As they begin to convert the stables into a livable cottage, Alice unearths buried memories of a childhood played out in wildly divergent homes. I’ll Know It When I See It is the witty and rueful examination of her struggles to make sense of—and peace with—her recollections of a bittersweet past. It is a book certain to appeal to anyone who’s ever loved, lost, and reclaimed a home of their own.

About the Author

Alice Carey, a former substitute schoolteacher and musical theater performer, has written for a variety of publications. She divides her time between New York City and West Cork, Ireland. This is her first book.