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No Blacks No Dogs No Irish
An alternative cover edition for this ASIN can be found here.
When Orla Mackey realises her boyfriend, Jack Newton, only wants her for one thing, she resolves to take drastic action. She does so without thinking about the consequences until it’s too late. By the end she realises the man she wants to marry is not in any position to marry her and never will be. Well let’s think about it, he’s not in any position to marry anyone. The Catholic Church don’t allow their priests to get married let alone have secret affairs with desperate women. This isn’t your standard love story, it’s a dark and intense tale of life for one woman in 1960’s Manchester and to some extent what life is/was like for priests of the Roman Catholic Church.
When Orla Mackey realises her boyfriend, Jack Newton, only wants her for one thing, she resolves to take drastic action. She does so without thinking about the consequences until it’s too late. By the end she realises the man she wants to marry is not in any position to marry her and never will be. Well let’s think about it, he’s not in any position to marry anyone. The Catholic Church don’t allow their priests to get married let alone have secret affairs with desperate women. This isn’t your standard love story, it’s a dark and intense tale of life for one woman in 1960’s Manchester and to some extent what life is/was like for priests of the Roman Catholic Church.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 7, 2013
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53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 8, 2019
Yaay excellent buy this book.
June 20, 2020
Excellent
June 30, 2025
The book, No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish by Ruby Lord, was quite interesting. I have never read a story that was so frank about the Catholic church and all the scandals that it has gone through. Orla is a refreshing character. She speaks her mind and doesn't care who hears it. The events that happened to her and how she dealt with them were very enlightening. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys an engaging exploration of a young woman's introspection on her life.
November 26, 2020
Good read
I really liked the baseline story of this book but the characters lacked depth and the story drifted at times. The grammar and spelling was also off which made it difficult to follow. Overall I enjoyed it.
I really liked the baseline story of this book but the characters lacked depth and the story drifted at times. The grammar and spelling was also off which made it difficult to follow. Overall I enjoyed it.
December 20, 2020
Really
Not the normal genre of book I would read but if this is a true story then it really is an eye opener
Not the normal genre of book I would read but if this is a true story then it really is an eye opener
October 27, 2013
Stop it! Can’t you see where this is going? God, Orla MacKey, what are you thinking! Are you even thinking? These are my ratings as I read Ruby Lord’s ‘No Blacks No Dogs No Irish.’
Ms. Lord provides a bit of history before the reader embarks on this gritty, poignant story of a young woman’s search for love. Lord writes, “1960’s Britain was a different world to the Britain we know today.” She tells the reader that Britain was in an economic decline; “Heating and lighting were expensive; the disposable income of households was far less than today even in the current economic decline. …money and credit weren’t readily available as they are now.” And we learn that prejudice of any people of color, but especially the blacks, was strong.
This story feels more like a true account of a young woman, scorned by her society and church, who is seeking what most of us seek––love and acceptance, and how she finds the strength to live through the rough road of self-discovery.
The MacKey’s are an Irish family living in England during a very harsh time in history. The 1960’s was an era of enormous environs changes worldwide in regards to the normal social and religious state of living. In that decade, to have an out-of-wedlock baby was a disastrous decision to a woman’s reputation. I say this for younger readers who might not understand the gravity of Orla’s decision.
We are introduced to Orla when she is in the last stages of labor and being verbally abused by a midwife. ‘If you can do any better, you get on here and push, you black bitch,’ she screamed at the plump, round midwife. In a short time, Orla births a little girl she will name Maria.
I felt compassion for this young vulnerable woman, and more so when I met her parents –– the woman abuser, Jack, her father, and the long-suffering mother, Maureen. So typical, so real, so personal that I wish I could erase them. I read on.
Jack declares that his “bastard” grandchild can be given to another married daughter who can’t seem to conceive. Orla fights back. She is feisty and as outspoken as her father. She is a survivor against all odds. That is the life for the young, unmarried Orla in a time where and place of being black and an unmarried mother was a sure sign of being a pariah in her society.
Orla’s is promiscuous, and is the most talked about and hated woman in her Roman Catholic dioceses. Seems like she’s slept with other women’s men, men unable to have “normal” relationships and others, who’d want to? In fact, the father of Maria is a married man who strings Orla along. Something she knows, but hopes for the best – that they might be together some day.
Her family isn’t helpful, in fact, they continue with the sad saga of accepting abuse while abusing each other emotionally and mentally. This is the way of an abused family. They carry it on and on. We hope for Orla, that she won’t pass it on to Maria.
I tried to dislike Orla, but the psychology in the story is based upon, prejudices against race and gender, abusive relationships and how the abused accepts it, and how religious clerics can encourage and support women abuse, and prejudices. The story is all too real.
The bottom line, with all of Orla’s bad choices (bothered me how much she smoked around her child) over the years the story takes place, is, the love the protagonist searches for. At times, I truly did want to reach right into the book and save her. For, in too many ways, she is me, she is my sister, she is my neighbor and friend, who put up with abuse for too many years. Thus I rooted for her – kinda like pulling a bad tooth – it hurt, but I had to deal with it to heal.
I must say, the book needs a good editing and proofing. As an author, I know it’s near impossible to do one’s self, and suggest the author scrape together the funds to have a professional edit, (not that they always catch it all either) for this is a really good story. The dialogue is real talk. Although at times, choppy and disjointed. I could follow it quite well most the time, but the transitions of time and thoughts would throw me and I’d have to go back and say, how did Orla get here? Wait, Maria is how old now? The flow was off for me at times. This makes the story hard to follow if one is not paying close attention, or willing to go backward and piece together what happened. Nevertheless, I couldn’t put it down and was glad to see our self-destructing Orla come to terms with making good decisions for herself and Maria – finally! Ruby Lord has proven she is a powerful storyteller and I will read her other novel, The Seed Farm. Kudos to your Indie Writer!
Ms. Lord provides a bit of history before the reader embarks on this gritty, poignant story of a young woman’s search for love. Lord writes, “1960’s Britain was a different world to the Britain we know today.” She tells the reader that Britain was in an economic decline; “Heating and lighting were expensive; the disposable income of households was far less than today even in the current economic decline. …money and credit weren’t readily available as they are now.” And we learn that prejudice of any people of color, but especially the blacks, was strong.
This story feels more like a true account of a young woman, scorned by her society and church, who is seeking what most of us seek––love and acceptance, and how she finds the strength to live through the rough road of self-discovery.
The MacKey’s are an Irish family living in England during a very harsh time in history. The 1960’s was an era of enormous environs changes worldwide in regards to the normal social and religious state of living. In that decade, to have an out-of-wedlock baby was a disastrous decision to a woman’s reputation. I say this for younger readers who might not understand the gravity of Orla’s decision.
We are introduced to Orla when she is in the last stages of labor and being verbally abused by a midwife. ‘If you can do any better, you get on here and push, you black bitch,’ she screamed at the plump, round midwife. In a short time, Orla births a little girl she will name Maria.
I felt compassion for this young vulnerable woman, and more so when I met her parents –– the woman abuser, Jack, her father, and the long-suffering mother, Maureen. So typical, so real, so personal that I wish I could erase them. I read on.
Jack declares that his “bastard” grandchild can be given to another married daughter who can’t seem to conceive. Orla fights back. She is feisty and as outspoken as her father. She is a survivor against all odds. That is the life for the young, unmarried Orla in a time where and place of being black and an unmarried mother was a sure sign of being a pariah in her society.
Orla’s is promiscuous, and is the most talked about and hated woman in her Roman Catholic dioceses. Seems like she’s slept with other women’s men, men unable to have “normal” relationships and others, who’d want to? In fact, the father of Maria is a married man who strings Orla along. Something she knows, but hopes for the best – that they might be together some day.
Her family isn’t helpful, in fact, they continue with the sad saga of accepting abuse while abusing each other emotionally and mentally. This is the way of an abused family. They carry it on and on. We hope for Orla, that she won’t pass it on to Maria.
I tried to dislike Orla, but the psychology in the story is based upon, prejudices against race and gender, abusive relationships and how the abused accepts it, and how religious clerics can encourage and support women abuse, and prejudices. The story is all too real.
The bottom line, with all of Orla’s bad choices (bothered me how much she smoked around her child) over the years the story takes place, is, the love the protagonist searches for. At times, I truly did want to reach right into the book and save her. For, in too many ways, she is me, she is my sister, she is my neighbor and friend, who put up with abuse for too many years. Thus I rooted for her – kinda like pulling a bad tooth – it hurt, but I had to deal with it to heal.
I must say, the book needs a good editing and proofing. As an author, I know it’s near impossible to do one’s self, and suggest the author scrape together the funds to have a professional edit, (not that they always catch it all either) for this is a really good story. The dialogue is real talk. Although at times, choppy and disjointed. I could follow it quite well most the time, but the transitions of time and thoughts would throw me and I’d have to go back and say, how did Orla get here? Wait, Maria is how old now? The flow was off for me at times. This makes the story hard to follow if one is not paying close attention, or willing to go backward and piece together what happened. Nevertheless, I couldn’t put it down and was glad to see our self-destructing Orla come to terms with making good decisions for herself and Maria – finally! Ruby Lord has proven she is a powerful storyteller and I will read her other novel, The Seed Farm. Kudos to your Indie Writer!
October 10, 2013
*I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
The concept of this book sounded very interesting and different from anything else I've ever read and for the most part, as I read it, this was true.
However there was sometimes a lack of indication and description in regards to how the characters were feeling, especially as they spoke. Thus it was often difficult to grasp how the characters felt whilst having conversations etc and while it didn't ruin my reading experience, it made it slightly less enjoyable.
Now what I loved about this book was the aspects of religion and a different culture to my own. I am not a religious person and have not grown up in a religious household so it was so refreshing to read about these peoples' lives where religion is a big part of them. Also the fact that it's set in the 60s and the main character is an Irish immigrant was intriguing; seeing how different, and often hard, life was back then.
At times events seemed to spring out of nowhere with no real build up which dampened their effect for me, which was a shame as I think given the right amount of build up, I would have enjoyed the book and the stories within it a lot more.
Orla's growth as a character was great to read and there were moments when I thought she was an awful person and at other times I felt great sympathy for her. She was given such human thoughts and emotions; made mistakes but also made the right choices. I also thought her mother, Maureen, and Jack were written well.
Yes, this book could have done with more editing, but that didn't distract me from a good, entertaining story that explored really interesting concepts.
The concept of this book sounded very interesting and different from anything else I've ever read and for the most part, as I read it, this was true.
However there was sometimes a lack of indication and description in regards to how the characters were feeling, especially as they spoke. Thus it was often difficult to grasp how the characters felt whilst having conversations etc and while it didn't ruin my reading experience, it made it slightly less enjoyable.
Now what I loved about this book was the aspects of religion and a different culture to my own. I am not a religious person and have not grown up in a religious household so it was so refreshing to read about these peoples' lives where religion is a big part of them. Also the fact that it's set in the 60s and the main character is an Irish immigrant was intriguing; seeing how different, and often hard, life was back then.
At times events seemed to spring out of nowhere with no real build up which dampened their effect for me, which was a shame as I think given the right amount of build up, I would have enjoyed the book and the stories within it a lot more.
Orla's growth as a character was great to read and there were moments when I thought she was an awful person and at other times I felt great sympathy for her. She was given such human thoughts and emotions; made mistakes but also made the right choices. I also thought her mother, Maureen, and Jack were written well.
Yes, this book could have done with more editing, but that didn't distract me from a good, entertaining story that explored really interesting concepts.
April 11, 2015
This ended up being a lot different than I expected when I first started reading. I was expecting a gritty story about prejudice against black and Irish people in the 60s or the struggles of an unwed Catholic mother. I was not expecting the book to get progressively more and more anti-Catholic with each chapter. I dislike how every priest in the story was either completely disregarding their vocation or part of a conspiracy to cover it up. We do have good priests in the Catholic Church, fiction tends to focus on scandalous ones. And conspiracies. Lots of conspiracies. I read the book in one sitting, it kept me interested and I was enjoying it until it got so anti-Catholic. I was confused when Orla went to Confession to the same priest she'd slept with. Father Francis would not be able to absolve Orla of her the sin that they slept together. Only the Pope can absolve that. Father Francis would be excommunicated. Orla too probably. I probably would have liked the novel more had their been at least one decent priest as a balance to all the ones not living out their vocation. The ones who use and abuse are in the minority, not the majority.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2013
I can't get Orla Mackey out of my mind.
I really can't. The whole time I was reading the book, whenever I put it down, I wondered, "What is Orla doing now?"
Orla Mackey, a single mother, an ugly duckling, who as the story goes, becomes beautiful, and a woman who just wants to be loved.
Orla is a woman like many other women. She tries the best she can to do the best she can. She faces obstacles in her life, but she endures, learns from them, and often conquers them, becoming stronger in the aftermath. You can't help but to like her, and to sympathize with her plight. But Orla is fiesty. She doesn't need your sympathy. She is a fighter, not just for herself but for others she loves. The book delves into heavy subjects -- prejudices about women, blacks and abuse -- but in a very engaging manner.
The book was good, but at times was hard to follow. Conversations ran together, and thoughts and transitions to different things were missing.
Not sure why the title includes dogs, but I did like the book.
I really can't. The whole time I was reading the book, whenever I put it down, I wondered, "What is Orla doing now?"
Orla Mackey, a single mother, an ugly duckling, who as the story goes, becomes beautiful, and a woman who just wants to be loved.
Orla is a woman like many other women. She tries the best she can to do the best she can. She faces obstacles in her life, but she endures, learns from them, and often conquers them, becoming stronger in the aftermath. You can't help but to like her, and to sympathize with her plight. But Orla is fiesty. She doesn't need your sympathy. She is a fighter, not just for herself but for others she loves. The book delves into heavy subjects -- prejudices about women, blacks and abuse -- but in a very engaging manner.
The book was good, but at times was hard to follow. Conversations ran together, and thoughts and transitions to different things were missing.
Not sure why the title includes dogs, but I did like the book.
January 9, 2014
I absolutely loved this book!
Yes, 'No Blacks No Dogs No Irish' is a bit rough around the edges, and could use a little polish - but author Ruby Lord's writing style adds to this book's charm!
A poignant commentary on the racial and social unrest in the U.S. and England through much of the 1960s, this is the story of Orla Mackey. The product of a homelife rife with abuse and bigotry, Orla is an unwed mother at a time when that alone made her a social outcast. She strives for so much better for herself and her baby girl.
I found the storyline to be quite engrossing and found myself rooting for Orla and her young daughter throughout the book.
Great job Ruby!
(For the younger crowd, 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish' has a very strong meaning to us that lived through those times. Even though I was quite young, I recall seeing signs like those on the evening news... ugly signs posted by property owners announcing their bigotry and prejudice, saying 'Stay away! Blacks, dogs and Irish aren't welcome here!')
Yes, 'No Blacks No Dogs No Irish' is a bit rough around the edges, and could use a little polish - but author Ruby Lord's writing style adds to this book's charm!
A poignant commentary on the racial and social unrest in the U.S. and England through much of the 1960s, this is the story of Orla Mackey. The product of a homelife rife with abuse and bigotry, Orla is an unwed mother at a time when that alone made her a social outcast. She strives for so much better for herself and her baby girl.
I found the storyline to be quite engrossing and found myself rooting for Orla and her young daughter throughout the book.
Great job Ruby!
(For the younger crowd, 'No Blacks, No Dogs, No Irish' has a very strong meaning to us that lived through those times. Even though I was quite young, I recall seeing signs like those on the evening news... ugly signs posted by property owners announcing their bigotry and prejudice, saying 'Stay away! Blacks, dogs and Irish aren't welcome here!')
April 6, 2014
A truly fantastic thought provoking read.
What a life Orla leads!
I found myself rooting for Orla, desperately wanting her to make better choices and stop being so naive!
Set amongst the backdrop of a poverty stricken 1960's Manchester, Lord cleverly portrayed how religion played an important role in the lives of the Irish immigrant Mackay family. The honest and yet so rare telling of the darker sides to the Catholic church was excellent, highlighting the flaws and weaknesses found in everyone regardless to status, vows made and the damage they may cause. The rollercoaster known as Orla's life was both hilarious and heart breaking in perhaps equal measures.
I was hooked from the beginning and struggled to put the book down, in short - I loved this book!
What a life Orla leads!
I found myself rooting for Orla, desperately wanting her to make better choices and stop being so naive!
Set amongst the backdrop of a poverty stricken 1960's Manchester, Lord cleverly portrayed how religion played an important role in the lives of the Irish immigrant Mackay family. The honest and yet so rare telling of the darker sides to the Catholic church was excellent, highlighting the flaws and weaknesses found in everyone regardless to status, vows made and the damage they may cause. The rollercoaster known as Orla's life was both hilarious and heart breaking in perhaps equal measures.
I was hooked from the beginning and struggled to put the book down, in short - I loved this book!
January 11, 2014
Lord captures the ground-breaking decade of the 60s to a tee in her novel that will captivate readers from the very first page. Our heroine, Orla takes center stage in Lord's novel and many will sympathize and root for her all at the same time all the way until we reach the heart pounding finish. The author's voice is strong and she weaves this British tale flawlessly. Her gifted writing truly provokes thought and many will find her story to be heartfelt and authentic. This one is not to be missed!
February 2, 2014
Ruby might have broken just about every 'rule' that the experts say shouldn't be broken - but she's written a book that keeps you interested from start to finish, and characters that you can love or hate.
I've read other books that don't break the rules, which I've struggled to get through. I didn't struggle with this one.
I've read other books that don't break the rules, which I've struggled to get through. I didn't struggle with this one.
January 5, 2014
I loved this book, all the way through you wanted Orla to wake up and smell the roses to stop being so naive. The author pulled you in and made you empathise with Orla. You knew she was craving love and at the end of the book you felt her strength & courage. An excellent read.
August 25, 2014
Really enjoyed this book. Felt like I knew the characters straight away and found it to be an interesting and relaxing read.
October 18, 2014
Story was good, just didn't feel any sort of connection with the characters.
March 14, 2015
And fraid I have to say this is one of the worst books I have ever read. I have never given up on a book and I did finish it but it was more than predictable and incredibly badly written.
November 9, 2015
All men are pigs, right? Apparently so in this poorly written book about a single mother irish immigrant in the 60's.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews