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Delia Scully #2
No More Than Human
Delia spends her early years living in the village of Ballyderring on the edge of the Bog of Allen, her life enriched by the beauty of the Irish countryside. Then one cold November day, Delia stands poised for independence and Spain.
- GenresIreland
Paperback
Published April 10, 1986
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About the author
Maura Laverty
32 books6 followersMaura Laverty (née Kelly) was an Irish author, journalist and broadcaster known for her work on Irish soap opera Tolka Row. She published several novels, short stories and critical pieces throughout her career.
Born in Rathangan, County Kildare in Ireland, Laverty was educated at Brigidine Convent, Carlow, where she studied teacher-training.[1] She later moved to Spain, taking up the position of governess and later secretary to Princess Bibesco and eventually becoming a foreign correspondent based within Madrid. Laverty returned to Ireland for the remainder of her career and worked as a journalist and broadcaster in Dublin for the national radio station, RTÉ.
Upon her return to Ireland she married the journalist James Laverty in 1928. They had three children,[2] one of whom was the artist Barry Castle (see Barry and Philip Castle) who illustrated some of her mother's work (See below, the Queen of Aran's Daughter.).
Her first novel Never No More was published to widespread acclaim in 1942. It was based in County Kildare, drawing heavily on personal experiences during her time in Derrymore House.[3] Laverty would follow this with such works as Touched by the Thorn (1943) and Alone We Embark (1943). Two of her books were banned in the Republic of Ireland, including her second, the semi-autobiographical No More than Human, which apparently offended the censor because of its frankness about the female body.[2]
She is well known as the writer of RTÉ's Tolka Row, the station's first soap opera that ran between 1964–68, itself largely an adaptation of her play Liffey Lane. Laverty also wrote numerous children's stories including The Cottage in the Bog (1946) and The Green Orchard (1949).[2]
Born in Rathangan, County Kildare in Ireland, Laverty was educated at Brigidine Convent, Carlow, where she studied teacher-training.[1] She later moved to Spain, taking up the position of governess and later secretary to Princess Bibesco and eventually becoming a foreign correspondent based within Madrid. Laverty returned to Ireland for the remainder of her career and worked as a journalist and broadcaster in Dublin for the national radio station, RTÉ.
Upon her return to Ireland she married the journalist James Laverty in 1928. They had three children,[2] one of whom was the artist Barry Castle (see Barry and Philip Castle) who illustrated some of her mother's work (See below, the Queen of Aran's Daughter.).
Her first novel Never No More was published to widespread acclaim in 1942. It was based in County Kildare, drawing heavily on personal experiences during her time in Derrymore House.[3] Laverty would follow this with such works as Touched by the Thorn (1943) and Alone We Embark (1943). Two of her books were banned in the Republic of Ireland, including her second, the semi-autobiographical No More than Human, which apparently offended the censor because of its frankness about the female body.[2]
She is well known as the writer of RTÉ's Tolka Row, the station's first soap opera that ran between 1964–68, itself largely an adaptation of her play Liffey Lane. Laverty also wrote numerous children's stories including The Cottage in the Bog (1946) and The Green Orchard (1949).[2]
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 15, 2025
Maura Laverty is such a good writer. Her characterization is top notch. This novel continues Delia's story from Never No More. She is off to Spain as a governess but she is far too independent, spunky, and impulsive and she wears her role uneasily. She jumps between jobs and burns some bridges, but also is befriended and, as she points out herself, is always provided for. Someone tells her: "God looks out for fools" and Delia proves it.
I am in awe of characters like Delia who can so easily adapt to new places and who are fearless in opening themselves up to what is new and different in another culture. I'm a highly sensitive person so I'm easily overwhelmed by lots of new sensory detail. I would love to be like Delia with her joy in everything with the new culture she's in in Spain: the food, the dancing, the cultural traditions and ways of living, walking the streets, and even encountering the beggars. I love that I get to be open hearted with her as I read. I especially loved the characters of Papa Antonio and Mama Antonia and La Serena. Such dear, kindly people. I want to know them myself.
Since this in late 1920s Spain, there are rumblings of the discontent that will turn into Civil War in the next decade. The older, wiser Delia gives us little clues about these things, but notes how her blithe late teenage self was completely oblivious. It adds a poignancy to the novel. Delia returns to Ireland eventually, but how do all her friends fare? We don't get to learn this, so I finished the novel feeling a bit melancholy.
I did like this slightly less than Never No More, which I attribute again to being an HSP. I loved Delia's home turf in Ireland and especially her warm relationship with her Gran in the first book. Also there was more about food in that one...
I am in awe of characters like Delia who can so easily adapt to new places and who are fearless in opening themselves up to what is new and different in another culture. I'm a highly sensitive person so I'm easily overwhelmed by lots of new sensory detail. I would love to be like Delia with her joy in everything with the new culture she's in in Spain: the food, the dancing, the cultural traditions and ways of living, walking the streets, and even encountering the beggars. I love that I get to be open hearted with her as I read. I especially loved the characters of Papa Antonio and Mama Antonia and La Serena. Such dear, kindly people. I want to know them myself.
Since this in late 1920s Spain, there are rumblings of the discontent that will turn into Civil War in the next decade. The older, wiser Delia gives us little clues about these things, but notes how her blithe late teenage self was completely oblivious. It adds a poignancy to the novel. Delia returns to Ireland eventually, but how do all her friends fare? We don't get to learn this, so I finished the novel feeling a bit melancholy.
I did like this slightly less than Never No More, which I attribute again to being an HSP. I loved Delia's home turf in Ireland and especially her warm relationship with her Gran in the first book. Also there was more about food in that one...
December 18, 2025
Excellent!
August 8, 2013
A couple of years ago I read ‘Never No More’, and I was utterly charmed by the story of Delia Scully, growing up in the care of her grandmother, in a small Irish town, in between the wars. It was wonderful to watch her growing into a lovely young woman, with a warm heart, a lively curiosity, and an impulsive nature.
‘No More Than Human’ opens as Delia arrived in Madrid, on a cold November morning, to become a governess. She had only just turned seventeen, but her grandmother was gone and it was time for Delia to make her own way in the world.
I wasn’t entirely sure that life as a governess would suit Delia, especially as she was so very young, but it was a common path for young Irishwomen of her generation, and it would be a grand adventure.
When she met her new employer, and saw her new employer’s expression, on the station platform she realised that she would have to change. The satin dress that her grandmother had bought for her, the sensible coat that was a little small but so very serviceable had seemed right when she left home, but they would not so for her new life. And it didn’t help that her hair was not behaving itself, that she had applied unfamiliar make-up in a moving train, or that she was carrying all her worldly goods in an antique dress basket…
Delia realised that she had to learn, and learn quickly. She turned herself into a plain, quiet, sensible governess.
But she was still Delia, and she did one or two things that governesses didn’t usually do. She made friends with the servants, and went into the kitchen to learn how to make Spanish food. She explored the town, and made friends with the locals. And one afternoon she went to the beach, in a read swimsuit, with a male friend.
It was entirely innocent, but she gained a reputation for being fast, she lost a job, and after one or two misadventures she realised that her life as a governess was over.
She set off for Madrid, to become a “professora,”a free-lance tutor and chaperone. It was an independent lifestyle that suited Delia very well but it wasn’t easy to establish herself when she was so young, and maybe her reputation would follow her.But Delian was determined, and soon she was setting her sights even higher. She would do what no other Irish governess had done: she would work in an office, in the kind of job that was usually reserved for young Englishwomen.
Maura Laverty catches Delia’s voice beautifully, and the tone is perfect as she looks back, with the wisdom of a few more years life experience, at her time in Spain.
She had so many ups and downs, and I lived through all of the highs and lows with her. There were so many emotions, so many experiences, so many experiences. Living and learning!
I met some wonderful people. Miss Carmondy, the older, wiser governess, who understood Delia and tried to guide her, was a wonderful friend and intriguing character. The story of Miss Wilson, who fled her home and learned to stand on her own two feet when her brother married, was heart-breaking. And La Serena, who Delia met in a Madrid boarding house, could have filled a book by herself …
And, best of all, I came to understand her love for the country, the people, the lifestyle, the cuisine. Delia and her world lived and breathed, and I loved it. She grew up, came of age, and yet she was still the same Delia.
It was so clear Maura Laverty understood – this book has many parallels with her own life – and that understanding really does illuminate this book.
I shall miss Delia now that her story has ended, but I am so very, very glad that we met.
‘No More Than Human’ opens as Delia arrived in Madrid, on a cold November morning, to become a governess. She had only just turned seventeen, but her grandmother was gone and it was time for Delia to make her own way in the world.
I wasn’t entirely sure that life as a governess would suit Delia, especially as she was so very young, but it was a common path for young Irishwomen of her generation, and it would be a grand adventure.
When she met her new employer, and saw her new employer’s expression, on the station platform she realised that she would have to change. The satin dress that her grandmother had bought for her, the sensible coat that was a little small but so very serviceable had seemed right when she left home, but they would not so for her new life. And it didn’t help that her hair was not behaving itself, that she had applied unfamiliar make-up in a moving train, or that she was carrying all her worldly goods in an antique dress basket…
Delia realised that she had to learn, and learn quickly. She turned herself into a plain, quiet, sensible governess.
But she was still Delia, and she did one or two things that governesses didn’t usually do. She made friends with the servants, and went into the kitchen to learn how to make Spanish food. She explored the town, and made friends with the locals. And one afternoon she went to the beach, in a read swimsuit, with a male friend.
It was entirely innocent, but she gained a reputation for being fast, she lost a job, and after one or two misadventures she realised that her life as a governess was over.
She set off for Madrid, to become a “professora,”a free-lance tutor and chaperone. It was an independent lifestyle that suited Delia very well but it wasn’t easy to establish herself when she was so young, and maybe her reputation would follow her.But Delian was determined, and soon she was setting her sights even higher. She would do what no other Irish governess had done: she would work in an office, in the kind of job that was usually reserved for young Englishwomen.
Maura Laverty catches Delia’s voice beautifully, and the tone is perfect as she looks back, with the wisdom of a few more years life experience, at her time in Spain.
She had so many ups and downs, and I lived through all of the highs and lows with her. There were so many emotions, so many experiences, so many experiences. Living and learning!
I met some wonderful people. Miss Carmondy, the older, wiser governess, who understood Delia and tried to guide her, was a wonderful friend and intriguing character. The story of Miss Wilson, who fled her home and learned to stand on her own two feet when her brother married, was heart-breaking. And La Serena, who Delia met in a Madrid boarding house, could have filled a book by herself …
And, best of all, I came to understand her love for the country, the people, the lifestyle, the cuisine. Delia and her world lived and breathed, and I loved it. She grew up, came of age, and yet she was still the same Delia.
It was so clear Maura Laverty understood – this book has many parallels with her own life – and that understanding really does illuminate this book.
I shall miss Delia now that her story has ended, but I am so very, very glad that we met.
February 15, 2015
My reading for The Seven Ages of Women theme read continues apace, this novel by Irish writer Maura Laverty fitting snuggly into the coming of age section of our list. I think we can all identify with those first stumbling steps of the almost grown, striking out into an uncaring world. Those mistakes, naivetés and youthful passions that wait to trip us up, and show us we’re not so very grown up after all. Maura Laverty understands those pitfalls well, faithfully portraying the path to adulthood that must so quickly be negotiated when one is alone and trying to make a precarious living abroad.
No more Than Human is Maura Laverty’s 1944 sequel to Never no More, which was the wonderfully engaging story of Delia Scully growing up in rural Ireland, living with her adored grandmother. At the conclusion of the previous novel, Delia was on the brink of great change, seventeen and going out into the world alone.
Full review:
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
No more Than Human is Maura Laverty’s 1944 sequel to Never no More, which was the wonderfully engaging story of Delia Scully growing up in rural Ireland, living with her adored grandmother. At the conclusion of the previous novel, Delia was on the brink of great change, seventeen and going out into the world alone.
Full review:
https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
April 3, 2015
A sequel to "Never No More", in this book heroine Delia Scully is in Spain, first working as a governess in Spanish households. Delia's high spirits get her in some trouble and lead her to several different jobs. Through it all she maintains her optimistic outlook and zest for adventure, and manages to avoid some dicey situations through luck and a bit of the hand of God, too. She is lucky enough to make some wonderful friends along the way.
The most fascinating thing about this story is how it really is the author's own story, thinly fictionalized. Maura Laverty led this interesting life as well, and the ending is hers as well. I would have liked for it to end less abruptly, and (spoiler alert) read a little more about her visit to Ireland that led to her staying and marrying Michael Walsh. But it was an enjoyable book - the flow is so easy to read and the characters and places are so vivid.
The most fascinating thing about this story is how it really is the author's own story, thinly fictionalized. Maura Laverty led this interesting life as well, and the ending is hers as well. I would have liked for it to end less abruptly, and (spoiler alert) read a little more about her visit to Ireland that led to her staying and marrying Michael Walsh. But it was an enjoyable book - the flow is so easy to read and the characters and places are so vivid.
February 1, 2022
I enjoyed this book. A young Irish woman's experiences as a governess in a Spain long gone. As a novel? not so sure. Maybe it's more an autobiography from a period of her life thinly masked in fictional names. Witty, inclined to sidetrack, clearly enduring.
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December 7, 2022couldn't get on audio
February 22, 2023
Absolutely cracking evocation of life in 1920s Madrid through the eyes of a young Irish governess. Beautifully written.
May 22, 2016
perhaps it is not as deep as Kate O'briens' similar novel Mary Lavelle. But it is an unpretentous, sweet novel about Delia, an Irish girl who goes to Spain as a governess. But Delia is a lively girl with a sense of fun and a hot temper and she finds being ordered about, having to comply with the rules of propriety and putting up with many of the bossy old maids who also work as governesses and chaperones very difficult and throws herself into finding another job.
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December 3, 2010It'a a fine novel No More Than Human by Maura Laverty.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews