Fantastic read! ( )

This was a difficult book to read, due to the topic. The Magdalen Laundries were terrible places. I read this after reading Claire Keegan's book," Small Things Like These". I found" Small Things Like These" did not really give any information or details about life in the Magdalen Laundries. This was a sad, but very informative read. Very glad I read it. Recommended! ( )

Historically OK but the book drags and the story is not well told. I got about 1/3 of the way through and just could not finish. This is an important story to tell, and is done well in movies such as Philomena. Not recommended. ( )

Set in Dublin, Ireland in early 1962, The Magdalen Girls is a story based on the infamous Magdalen laundries run by the Catholic church. The main characters are three girls who are sent to live indefinitely as penitents under the watch of sadistic Catholic nuns. These girls are given long hours of work with little nourishment. They are not allowed to speak to each other, or any time on their own. Girls were given over to the nuns by families that couldn’t deal with the troublesome teens, one girl ended up there because a priest was attracted to her and it was easier to have her removed than to expect him to control himself.

The three girls bond and try to look out for each other, and two of them actually manage to escape for a short time. In Ireland, the church was the law so any escaped girls were hunted down and immediately returned to the nuns. The Magdalen laundries have become known for their severe conditions and the inhuman way the girls were treated but the author seems to shy away from pointing fingers, instead the Sister Superior is given a backstory that helps to explain why she inflicts emotional and physical abuse on others.

The concept of The Magdalen Girls was excellent, this is a story that needs to be told. Unfortunately, I felt the writing was a little weak and clunky and the characters came across flat and one-dimensional. I thought this book had the potential to be an excellent historical fiction read so I was disappointed that it just didn’t work well. ( )

Ok takes place in the early 1960’s in Ireland. Magdalen refers to a laundry run by nuns where young ladies who are a “problem” fo their families are signed over to the nuns. It’s a grueling story of anger, near starvation and willpower. ( )