Irish Fiction Week Review: The Granny by Brendan O'Carroll

Title: The Granny (Agnes Browne, #3)
Author: The Granny
Publisher: O'Brien Press
Publication Date: 7th October 1996
Pages: 192
ISBN: 9781847173249
Source: Library
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon

The final book in the Agnes Browne trilogy.

At forty-seven years of age Agnes, now thirteen years happily widowed, enters the 1980s with a fruit stall in Moore Street, a French lover and six children, five of them in their twenties.

Becoming a grandmother is a terrible shock to her system, especially as Agnes suffers every one of her daughter-in-law's labour pains! And as the family expands so do the problems -one son's inevitable brush with the law, the heartbreak of emigration. But Agnes Browne is nothing if not a fighter, and she squares her shoulders, offers up a quick one to her departed pal, Marion, and sets about getting things back on an even keel - or as even as things ever get in the Brown household!

I am feeling quite emotional at reaching the end of this wonderful trilogy of books. I have laughed and I have cried in equal measure reading these books, and the last couple of chapters in The Granny almost turned me into an emotional wreck! Brendan O'Carroll has created characters that you just fall in love with, that each feel incredibly real, each with their own unique personalities. The characters in these books just came alive in my mind thanks to O'Carroll's fantastic dialogue and descriptions. I honestly can't recommend this trilogy enough and without wanting to sound repetitive, fans old and new of Mrs. Brown's Boys will love this book. At times very different to the programme, but at times those similarities are there.

Agnes Browne is about to become a granny for the very first time, and she's shocked when she finally realises that and suddenly she feels old. With all of her children celebrating the birth at the local pub, little does Agnes know that it'll be the last time she would see her entire family together. 'Fate and tragic coincidence were about to take a hand and scatter her brood to the four winds.' This time around I loved Dermot and Buster and the journey they go on over the course of the novel. I can't say much more than that but I especially loved their little discovery turned hideaway which was reminiscent of when the Secret Seven found a new meeting place in a cave. A couple of characters I particularly liked in previous books didn't really stand out in this one for me, but again Agnes was the star of the show (and I still found it weird seeing her all loved up).

Again it's hard to really talk in detail about the book, and harder still to find something to say about it that I haven't already said in my reviews for the previous two books. The best thing I could probably say then is read these books. They are funny, beautifully evocative thanks to O'Carroll's wonderful descriptions of a place and era that he knows so well and feature characters that will remain in your memory for a long time. A truly fantastic trilogy of books and some of the best that I have read, and that ending! All I can say is if that's how Mrs. Brown's Boys will one day end, a nation will be shattered but it was a beautiful and very fitting ending.

5/5