About this item
Majella is happiest out of the spotlight, away from her neighbors' stares and the gossips of the small town in Northern Ireland where she grew up during the Troubles. She lives a quiet life caring for her alcoholic mother, working in the local chip shop, watching the regular customers come and go. She wears the same clothes each day (overalls, too small) , has the same dinner each night (fish and chips, microwaved at home after her shift ends) , and binge-watches old videotapes of the same show (Dallas, best show on TV) from the comfort of her bed. But underneath Majella's seemingly ordinary life are the facts that she doesn't know where her father is and that every person in her town has been changed by the lingering divide between Protestants and Catholics.
About the Author
Michelle Gallen was born in Tyrone in the 1970s and grew up during the Troubles a few miles from the British border in Ireland. She studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin and Publishing at Stirling University. She has been published in the Stinging Fly, Mslexia and other publications, and won the Orange/NW short story award. AUTHOR PHOTO CREDIT: Deci Gallen
