Ma, I'm Gettin Meself a New Mammy: A Memoir of Dublin at the Turn of the 1960s

Ma... #2

by Martha Long

After numerous arrests for shoplifting, Martha is sent to the convent where, the judge rules, she is to get an education. Martha is relieved to be out of the clutches of her horrible drunken stepfather, Jackser, and her feckless mother, Sally, but anxious about what awaits. Her days in the convent are steady, predictable, safe--everything that her life had not been prior to being sent away. But as she says, "You can have a full belly, but your heart can be very empty." Put to back-breaking work by the nuns, and treated cruelly by the other children--they've marked her as a "street kid"--Martha works hard, keeps to herself, and steals away when she can with a cherished book. But Martha pines for simple affection, keeping after the Sisters day after day with the hope of an arm laid across her shoulders or a tender look. When her siblings arrive at the convent--taken from their mother by the courts--Martha is thrilled to again be with family and care for the babies. But then Sally and Jackser arrive to take the children home and beg Martha to return and help care for the kids. Martha makes a wrenching decision to stay behind, knowing with an unnatural foresight for such a young girl that they will all drag her down and possibly out forever. She must find her own way. She is thirteen.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography Memoir, Autobiography, Ireland

344 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Martha Long was born in Dublin in the early 1950s and still lives there today. She calls herself a ‘middle-aged matron’ and has successfully reared three children. The Bookseller described her as a ‘truly gifted storyteller’ & Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, compared her to Charles Dickens. Her seventh and final book in the bestselling Ma series will be published by Mainstream Publishing in the UK, Australia and New Zealand in September 2013. Her first book was published in North America by Seven Stories Press in November 2012.

Reviews

[Antigone · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this, the second installment of Martha Long's exceptional memoir of life at the poverty level in 1950s Dublin, she says good-bye to childhood and hello to adolescence.

The Irish court system has finally intervened, removing her from the care of her ambivalent Ma and the brutally abusive Jackser - which puts a decisive end to her life on the streets; an existence predicated on petty theft and a burgeoning skill with the grift. In what can only be viewed as a serendipitous slice of luck, the judge forgoes the reformatory and instead consigns her to a convent school, where she will remain until she turns sixteen. It is luck, however, only in the sense that three years in a reformatory setting would have hardened her criminal nature. The convent possesses a cross-section of inhabitants; a variety (meager though it may be) of people from different classes, backgrounds and educational experience. She will have the opportunity here to broaden her horizons. Yet for all such exposure may offer Martha in terms of alternative and hope, the cost will be a high one. It must be remembered (as it so rarely is by those in the administrative field) that "exposure" goes both ways.

Martha was unwelcome at the convent from the moment of her arrival. The Mother Superior railed against this arrangement from the outset, rejecting her to her face, furious in her protest of what the court was demanding. The students, a viciously clique-ish collection of girls, reacted no better. It was clear to one and all that this was an urchin, a "tinker", an animal; refuse from the streets who obviously belonged elsewhere. They fought her, tricked her, stole from her, sabotaged her food. And Martha, drawing from the only skill set she owned, talked back, fought back, acted out, armored up, and stubbornly persevered.

What makes this memoir extraordinary is the author's approach. Just as the first installment was told from the eye of a seven-year-old girl, so is this second expressed from the vantage of a teen. Add to the hormonal blitzkrieg of puberty all of Martha's particular developmental deficits - her lack of socialization skills, emotional controls, idealization reserves and propensity for basic trust - and we are catapulted, as readers, into the true ordeal she confronted in that convent as she faced, for the first time, a circumstance in which it was profoundly important to find a way to fit in. That she does not possess the capacity for this, and ends up scamming it, is a heartbreaking testament to her will, and to the strength of all those children who've been bent by cruel and unforgivable torture, but never quite broken.

This is not an especially endearing portrait - and I say that as someone who was not especially endearing at fourteen either. Yet it is an honest portrayal. And all the more exceptional for it.

[Sarah Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed in this as a follow up to the first book. It lacked continuity and was just a collection of incidents. There were a couple of details in the story that just left you wondering how a situation arose or why things happened that way. The cynic in me thinks it was a cashing-in exercise after the excellent "Ma He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes". Still I was glad to know that Martha made it to adulthood with her spirit intact.

[Fordan Bonardi]

Good......but, not like the original work. It was what happen to her through her next four years. I will check the reviews on the next one before I go,further. Martha Long I feel is a very talented writer.

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as good as the first book in the series and took me a lot longer to get through. Still a good book and will read the 3rd when it comes out.

[Janet · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her first book in the series was excellent, but this I found very boring.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to say anything even remotely negative after the life this woman has lived.....*but*.... This second installment seemed very long. Covering only about 2 years of her life, I felt it could have been edited down quite a bit - and been part of a book rather than an entire book. I understand that this was written as therapy, so I understand all the rambling, repeating and detail... but when it was decided to publish, an editor would have done well to step in and whittle it down a bit.

I will keep reading - I'm interested in her growth. Noticed the voice change in this as she became more educated and worked on her "diction", the narrative voice changed as well.

[Iuliana Naughton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not that interesting, not very original and quite poorly written.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! Better than the first one.

[Mari MacDonald · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it- certainly not as captivating as the first book. It didn’t have as cohesive of a through line. Some events would take chapters and chapters and others a mere page or two. I felt it hard to keep reading through the middle but still feel very connected to Martha and just want to see her succeed after all she’s been through!! I probably won’t continue with the series but I am still in awe of this woman and the things she’s endured and overcome.

[Nicky Forrester · Rating 4 out of 5]

We pick up again with little Martha going into an institution. At least she's away from the Ma and Jackser and hopeful of being taken care of better but she's exploited here too.

She can't shake the 'street kid' tag so ends up pretty much on her own again, landed with all the menial work, little schooling and a figure of ridicule to kids who feel they are superior to her.

But throughout everything, Martha is just a little girl looking for some love, affection and comfort in life (like any child of that age would). She enjoys being with the babies as their attention is unconditional but of course that's not allowed to last as she's more use scrubbing and cleaning.

Again, how Martha tells her story so engaging and peppered with really witty laugh out loud moments. You can't help but like her, her story draws you in and you ultimately want the very best for her.

Another great read.

[Brittany Holland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martha Long does it again in this second installment of her series of memoirs of her life coming of age in Dublin. This book takes us through Martha's time spent at the convent, where she was sent for theft (theft meaning stealing butter to sell to make money to feed her five siblings, mentally unstable mother, and rotten maniacal alcoholic stepfather). Here she learns what life is like away from the cruel streets of Dublin, but life is still not easy for young Martha. Unable to keep up with the studies in school due to never having been given an education, Martha is sentenced to hard labor by the Nuns. This story is the tale of how she survived the convent and the vicious girls who lived there.

[Emily Wiersma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A continuation of her last book "Ma, He sold Me for a Few Cigarettes." This book continues exactly where the last book left off with Martha going into the convent to get an education. However, she is pretty much denied an education and forced to do manual labor for the nuns. She is also an outsider in the convent and just wants to be loved, but her time there is still extremely lonely. Her one bright spot having her brothers and sisters come and stay for a bit during one Christmas. However she is away from Jackser, her stepfather, and that is one of the main things she is grateful for. I love her wit and humor telling the story and not letting her lot in life get her down. She knows she is going to be somebody someday and I believe that is how she makes it through the convent.

[Lisa Lingrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I believe in Martha, her talent as a writer, and life story, this definitely paled in comparison to her Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes. I will continue on with Ma, it's a Culd Aul Night an I'm Lookin for a Bed as her story is definitely worth knowing.

[Gaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent non fiction books telling of the preteen/teen years of Martha Young (the author) being sent to a convent by a judge fulfill her punishment from a life of stealing and petty theft. The story takes place in Dublin, Ireland during the 60's. It is raw and honest in it's telling and shows Martha's strength, bravery and is a testament of her unbreakable spirit. This is one of a series of her life experiences from a small child living in a dysfunctional family, fending for her self in the streets to her life as a parent.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a memoir about Martha Long's horrific childhoood in Ireland. It is absolutely heartbreaking, and whilst you want to walk away from the horror of her life, it is absolutely compelling, and you can't put this book down. Her positive attitude despite the horrors that occurred was incredible, especially considering that she was a child. This book changed me forever. Never will I whinge again about how "hard" my life is. Absolutely inspiring!!!!!!

[Deborah Sowery-Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's hard to put Long's 2nd part of her memoir down even though her sad adventures can be repetitious at times. In this installment she has been removed from her neglectful mother and her abusive boyfriend/father figure and sent to a convent for a few years for an education. However, she is put to work by the nuns and treated poorly by the other girls so does not have it easy, yet her spunky personality shines through. I will be onto the 3rd in the series soon.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember when I finished the first book, I was gutted, and then delighted to realise there were many more to come! I really enjoyed it. The first third of the book was a bit slow, but after that it was difficult to put down. I have already bought the next book and am forcing myself to take a little break before starting it, and am looking forward to 'visiting' with Martha again.

[Sephie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have never wished to read a 'misery memoir' which seem to be so popular, but this was one of my wins, and followed on from Martha's early childhood abuse, charting her life after being placed in a convent orphanage, to her 'release' at 16.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

She just kept picking herself up and getting on with it despite the cruelty of her situation. Most adults portrayed in this book should be ashamed of themselves as human beings, yet there were a few glimmers of kindness.

[Malcolm]

The Misery Memoir shelves must be groaning and here's one more to add to the burden. I can understand why people who have been through some dreadful experiences feel the need to write it down but do we really need to read it...I didn't feel I did

[T4bsF (Call me Flo) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as part of the 'ma' series by Martha Long but it didn't have the impact of some of the othersMartha Long

[Tonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous follow on to book 1...not such a sad tale as bk 1, this shows more of Marthas spunk and individuality....the young Martha really starts to emerge in this book...am about to crack open book 3 and see what is in store for her next

[Toni Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad.

I am glad to read the story of Martha has improved. But I have a sneaky suspension that the story does not stop here! I am eager to read the next series of a now trilogy, I am hoping to see soon.

[Danielle Fysh · Rating 4 out of 5]

So far, a fabulous follow on to her first book. Compelling and inspirational. What a brave little girl!

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another breathtaking book by Martha Long :)
Amazing

[JanieB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Martha Long has recounted an amazing story of survival against all odds. I look forward to reading her subsequent books when they become available in Canada.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic

[Donna Gounder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very pleasant reading

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Mary Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the first 4!