Run, Lily, Run

by Martha Long

Lily and Ceily Carney are only seven and twelve when their mother is cruelly taken from them, leaving them at the mercy of the Church and the authorities.

This is a terrifying prospect in 1950s Dublin, where it is likely that the girls will end up in one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalen laundries – a fate they are determined to escape.

When Father Flitters and the ‘Cruelty’ people arrive to take the children into care, Lily and Ceily resist, and a riot breaks out. The girls are helped by kind Mister Mullins and his daughter Delia, but events lead to further tragedy and Lilly is left to fend for herself on the dangerous streets. Heartbroken, hungry and vulnerable, she looks like easy prey and it seems there will be no safe haven for her to find.

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 23, 2014

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

[ReadAlongWithSue recovering from a stroke★⋆. ࿐࿔ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished reading this yesterday but I have had to sit and think about my review.

While the concept of the book and story line was good, I found myself very confused at times.

The beginning of the book starts where two young girls [sisters] loose their Mother in death. Of course, they need to find a way to sustain the rent, food on the table or they may be taken to the poor house. I'm not sure what happened as there was no lead up for me {and I was concentrating] I read it several pages over again to make sure I had been paying attention and not missed anything but.....a melee broke out.

There was pages and pages that concentrated on all different people that ended up in the dead Mother's house and I thought it was because they had come to take the children away. I know mention of the NSPCC was in amongst the pages, but also, someone was was arguing about who was taking over the house from the Council. Arguments ensued about she was, no he was, no she was......among all of this one of the girls ran. Lily. She ran to a trusted shop owner. Whereupon she told him all about what was happening, he and his grown daughter took her back into the vicinity of her home again..........telling her to stay hidden on the corner. Of course, she didn't.


The reason I was so distracted from this story is because its way of being written.

I applaud authors who use the correct dialect for the County or Country. I love to see a person speaking and its spelling being in the same language/slang that they speak.

For example:

"We love ya'll Ma'am" [this is NOT appertaining to this book its not Southern talk] but it has a dialect that is not only used for the person speaking [dialogue] but also the narration of the book which is totally off putting for me at least.

In my humble opinion if the narration was written in just 'normal spoken voice' and the dialogue was the only accent written, it would have been so much easier for me to follow.

Because I had to work so hard with this book in following it, I have no choice to give it 3 stars, however, if it was easier to read I would have definitely given it 4.

Please don't allow my review to sway you, read it for yourself and see if you enjoy it. I am just one voice.


I would like to thank Random House UK, Transworld Publishers via net galley for the chance to read and review this book

[Mandy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a mess – endless shouting and running about and fighting – but to what end? Two children are left alone after their mother dies and everyone seems to argue about what happens to them and the younger sister Lily has to run away and so on and so on. I’m sure the premise – cruelty to children in Ireland – had some merit, but it didn’t come out in the writing. Couldn’t finish it…..and it’s all in the vernacular, which doesn’t make for easy reading.

[Patricia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to the "Ma" series, this book was not to my liking.
Too much detail, oft repeated of the fighting scenes. Many did not
make sense and I wanted it to get to the real story. I don't think
that 20+ pages describing a fighting scene was very interesting
and I skipped through it. Also, the many pages describing the
scene of the funeral debacle was also unnecessary, in my opinion,
and I skipped over it.
Otherwise, the way Martha Long writes, with the Irish dialect is
quite realistic and made me feel that I was in 1950's Dublin.

[Bernie Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant account of a child's panic and terror whilst running from the 'authorities' who would place her into care after the death of her mother and becoming separated from her older sister. Once I got used to the strong Dublin accent (that was very well portrayed), I could hear the child's voice and feel her anger and fear. I felt it ended too soon and would like to know what happened to Lily next. I hope there is a sequel.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read to three quarters of the way through this book and felt that the story had not progressed at all. I enjoyed the child's narrative which made the tale different to other writer's styles. Although, I did not really enjoy this book, I would still recommend it and would like to read more books by this author.

[Susan Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the book but also found it hard to understand what was going on so I had to re-read quite a few parts to catch p on the action and people involved. Some of the characters dropped out of the story never to be heard about again. Didn't care for the ending, but I'm sure it's because there will be a sequel.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant . Loved every bit of it .

[Miss NA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

I’ve loved Martha since the Ma series and was overjoyed to find this book. It’s surprised me how many Ma’isms (!) I think or say in my head since reading them all those years ago. And here, now, with Run, Lily, Run it’s like they’ve all come back. I was so happy to hear the same style of writing and loved the fact that Lily’s background wasn’t your standard kid from the tenements with a hard luck story. I wish there was more to come because I’ve loved every minute of this book and didn’t want it to end!

[Tracy Kruck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry this was boring. Story dragged on. Couldn't wait to finish it. Not coz it was a page turner but to make a start on next book to stop reading this drivel. How this got nearly 4 stars surely is a mistake?

[Kiwileese · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this book as I loved her other books but I just could not get into it I’m afraid

[Mrs Chrisi Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story

Encourages you to buy the next books the story doesn't end at the end. Familiar story to other books of child suffering etc.

[Mandy Mc keever · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, loved it, can't wait for the sequel.

[Jane Connor]

Lily and Ceily Carney are only seven and twelve when their mother is cruelly taken from them, leaving them at the mercy of the Church and the authorities.

This is a terrifying prospect in 1950s Dublin, where it is likely that the girls will end up in one of Ireland’s notorious Magdalen laundries – a fate they are determined to escape.

When Father Flitters and the ‘Cruelty’ people arrive to take the children into care, Lily and Ceily resist, and a riot breaks out. The girls are helped by kind Mister Mullins and his daughter Delia, but events lead to further tragedy and Lilly is left to fend for herself on the dangerous streets. Heartbroken, hungry and vulnerable, she looks like easy prey and it seems there will be no safe haven for her to find.