Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes: A Memoir of Dublin in the

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Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes: A Memoir of Dublin in the 1950s (Memoirs of Dublin)

"Not for the faint of heart, Long's story is a gritty, grueling, and heartbreaking testament to one girl's unbreakable spirit."â€”Publishers Weekly,Â starred review

When Martha Long's feckless mother hooks up with the Jackser ("that bandy aul bastard"), and starts havingÂ more babies, the abuse and poverty in the house grow more acute. Martha is regularly sent out to beg andÂ more often steal, and her wiles (as a child of 7, 8) are often the only thing keeping food on the table. Jackser isÂ a master of paranoid anger and outburst, keeping the children in an unheated tenement, unable to go toÂ school, at the ready for his unpredictable rages. Then Martha is sent by Jackser to a man he knows inÂ exchange for the price of a few cigarettes. She is nine. She is filthy, lice-ridden, outcast. Martha and MaÂ escape to England, but for an itinerant Irishwoman finding work in late 1950s England is a near impossibility.Â Martha treasures the time alone with her mother, but amazingly Ma pines for Jackser and they eventuallyÂ return to Dublin and the other children. And yet there are prized cartoon magazines, the occasional hiddenÂ penny to buy the children sweets, the glimpse of loving family life in other houses, and Martha's hope that sheÂ will soon be old enough to make her own way.

Virtually uneducated, Martha Long is natural-born storyteller. Written in the vernacular of the day, the reader isÂ tempted to speak like Martha for the rest of a day (and don't let me hear yer woman roarin' bout it neither).Â One can't help but cheer on this mischievous, quick-witted, and persistent little girl who has captured heartsÂ across Europe.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Country	USA
Author	Martha Long
Binding	Hardcover
EAN	9781609804145
Edition	Reprint
ISBN	9781609804145
Label	Seven Stories Press
Manufacturer	Seven Stories Press
NumberOfItems	1
NumberOfPages	480
PublicationDate	2012-11-13
Publisher	Seven Stories Press
ReleaseDate	2012-11-13
Studio	Seven Stories Press

Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes: A Memoir of Dublin in the 1950s (Memoirs of Dublin)

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