Rory & Ita

A portrait of modern Ireland as presented through the lives of the author's parents notes their birth in the aftermath of the Irish rebellion, their witness to the country's rise from an oppressed colony to a rising economic power, and their personal hardships. 40,000 first printing.

While Doyle is a well-regarded screenwriter (The Snapper; The Commitments) and novelist (Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha), here he seems to have done little more than hold the microphone, as this is actually his parents' book. Such nonintervention might be wonderful, were his folks entertaining raconteurs or at least people with rich experiences to relate-but alas, Ita and Rory are neither. While the publisher bills their memories as an "oral history" of the "quintessential twentieth-century Irish experience," the account is little more than a lackluster story of a mundane couple whose families were neither rich nor poor. Both attended school, dated and married, bought a house, raised a family, retired and then moved on to coping with old age. They rarely concerned themselves with anyone outside their village and extended family, only discovering the rest of the world when Rory retired and they traveled. Such insularity occasionally produces endearingly innocent remarks, such as newlywed Rory's exclamation when he learns Ita's pregnant: "I didn't say, `How did that happen?' but I had only a vague idea." Now and then, the account offers insight into lifestyle changes over a single generation, as when Ita reflects on her 1940s girlhood and realizes there "was no such thing as teenagers, so it was up to yourself how you got on between the ages of thirteen and twenty." As such gems are buried under many pages of smalltown gossip, Doyle's fans may wish the talented writer had chosen a different format for celebrating his parents' story. Photos.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In Rory & Ita, an oral history told by the subjects, Doyle memorializes the experiences of his parents in Ireland both before and after their marriage in 1951. Rory, the first of nine children, lost himself in books to escape a burgeoning household of siblings and cousins. His love of reading eventually led him to a career in the printing industry, which he began with his first job as a compositor laying type at the Juverna Press. Rory's father and grandfather were great supporters of Irish liberation, and Rory recounts both their stories and his own attempt at joining the Fianna Boys, a youth chapter of the IRA. While Rory tells of politics and work, Ita's story is a bit more poignant as she recollects what she can of her own mother, who died when Ita was very young, and shares touching moments of reconnection with her mother's American family. This book is Doyle's very personal endeavor at capturing his family's history, and his parents come across as lovely, genuine people. Elsa Gaztambide
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