It Could Not Stay Hidden

Pre-approved to read and review the new Roddy Doyle novel, “The Women Behind the Door,” I ordered a previous book of his, “The Woman Who Walked Into Doors,” which also features Paula Spencer. As an alcoholic and abused wife, she constantly made excuses for her husband Charlo, masking the abuse with excuses like "I walked into the door." She finally breaks free from this hell when she, as the New York Times said, “...stops being a battered wife when she becomes a protective mother.”

“The Women Behind the Door” picks up thirty years later. Paula is now sixty-six and seems fairly happy with her life. Her greatest joy, that her children are doing well, is suddenly shattered when her oldest daughter, Nicola– the perfect one, the one who was everything Paula was not– shows up at her doorstep, intent on abandoning her husband and family.

The Covid crisis has been going on for a while, and the women use this as a cover story for Nicola to stay separated from her family. Paula begins to see what she never wanted to see before– that her daughter has been far from perfect and bears emotional scars from her childhood. The credit Paula has given herself for tossing Charlo out– she has allowed it to cloud a deep-seeded guilt for failing her children.

“The Charlo damage, the real Charlo pain– it isn’t physical. It never was, once the bones were mended and the bruises faded back behind her skin. The real damage– she can’t face her children, not even in her imagination. They’re like a jury and she’s always guilty– she knows she’s guilty. Nothing will ever make her know or feel any different. He battered the mother out of her. “

In this mother-daughter drama, ghosts from the past refuse to stay restrained in the shadows and these two are compelled to confront what has lain deep within. Doyle examines how they attempt to see the past without illusion, striving to save their bond. It is a story marked by raw, brutal moments, yet interspersed with clever, witty interludes. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Viking Penguin and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Abuse as we know it now includes so many things that were, if not commonplace, at least not labeled as abuse in the past. In this book this intergenerational variation is explored as a woman and her adult children come to terms with sexual abuse and physical abuse. The novel is more character driven, so it is a bit slow and subtle, but well written and does not focus overly much on graphic scenes or on-the-page trauma. So many families have lecherous old men, inappropriate uncles, or creepy cousins. whose advances were tolerated or quietly avoided for generations, and now as the younger generations have become more outspoken about sexual, psychological and physical abuse and less tolerant of it, those unpleasant relatives are being reevaluated and things nobody talked about are emerging for families to work out how to deal with. I am sure many readers will be able to relate to this novel.

I’ve never read Roddy Doyle before but I love the Irish humor and the way he wrote about difficult subject matter. Will be checking out his other work!

I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

This wasn't interesting book about.Paula had a very rocky relationship with her daughter named nancy. Her husband was tragically killed so she had to raise these children by yourself. She was trying really hard to be a mother. She came down with Colvin and her daughter.Nancy stayed with her. This was really interesting part of the story.Becanswer didn't really know what went on in that family as a little girl. They talked about domestic violence in this case and the mother Became an alcoholic. She struggled but she made go for it. One of the sons went to United States. The other son was recovering Heroin addict The author weaves a story together in a very interesting manner. You find out why nancy was angry at her mother. Everybody had something to do in this book with each other.

2 1/2 stars. I had a difficult time with this book, and it may be because I hadn't read the previous two books starring this main character. This was a character-driven novel, but because I didn't know anything about the characters to begin with, I felt I was just dropped into the middle of their stories. Paula, a widow in her 60s, survived an abusive marriage and has come out on the other side. Beginning during Covid, the book centers on Paula, her friends, and her children. One evening her eldest, Nicola, the child who's always been most successful, appears at her door, ready to leave her marriage and her children. Then we read more of both their backstories. I must say, the book rambled a bit, and it probably would have worked better for me if I'd read the other two books first, for some background information. Thank-you to NetGalley, Viking Publishing, and Mr. Doyle for the ARC of this title.

Thank you @netgalley for the Advanced Reader Copy of The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle. This is a follow up to his earlier novel about Paula and her severely abusive husband and her own alcoholism. He is dead, but he lives on in Paula and her daughter, and their relationship. The story is so sad and there is so much hurt, anguish, and love. It’s terrible to see the long lasting effects of abuse and of alcoholism. Good read but you need to steel yourself to read it. #thewomenbehindthedoor #roddydoyle #netgalley #bookstagram #lovetoread #booklover #readersofinstagram #bookloversofinstagram #alcoholism #domesticabuse

The Women Behind the door
By Roddy Doyle

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this one.

TW: domestic violence, addiction, mental health.

The story about a woman in her sixties, her past and present. She’s a mother of four and a grandmother, she’s a friend and a lover.

As Paula’s character is described, I can’t help but feel numb??? and not in a sympathetic way...

She fights her demons every single day. Struggles with staying sober as a recovering alcoholic while her kids were young…Her ex husband used to beat her to the point of no recognition, many times she’d have to clean up her own blood off the floors and walls….

I mean…this was a hard read. I am all for hard reads and trigger warnings don’t bother me.

BUT….With that said, I would have enjoyed this more if it wasn’t so all over the place. The only word I can think of is messy…..while Doyle tried to write from Paula’s POV it just seemed unorganized, chaotic.. I felt overwhelmed and ultimately I couldn’t connect with Paula and therefore did a fast paced read and started skimming through, which I don’t like to do. But I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

This just wasn’t for me.

Happy Pub Day!
The Women Behind the Door by Roddy Doyle is a thought-provoking and emotional story.
I really enjoyed the characters and their story. The characters are realistic and their story seeps into you and holds you captive.
I loved the honest reality of real life here.
Overall, I enjoyed this book.

You'll be fine if you didn't read what I'm calling the first two Paula books but know that this might be a bit of a struggle at points because it floats around in time (sometimes on the same page) and then there's the rhythm of the prose and dialogue. Doyle has, however, captured the feeling of COVID lockdown and its impact- that picnic was perfect. Paula is a well rounded and understandable character with all the warts and smiles one can expect (and honestly, she's not as old as you might think just hard lived) but Nicola, for me, was still, even after the revelations, a bit of a cipher. This hits a lot of issues- addiction, abuse, estrangement (loved the scene with her granddaughter) and so on but that's life. This can be tiring at times (I almost gave up more than once) because it feels almost frantic but keep reading for portrait of an interesting woman of our time. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. A good read that will definitely please Doyle's legion of fans.

I admit that I didn’t realize when I started THE WOMEN BEHIND THE DOOR that it follows two earlier books with the same characters. That was an oversight that probably affected my reading of it but still, this is a beautiful novel. The intimacy of the dialogue, particularly between mother and daughter, is startling. It reads more like a play than a novel at many points, and there isn’t really a ‘plot’ in the conventional sense, but all of that serves to make the characters absolutely shine. There are moments when I could sincerely feel the tension in the room during long stretches of dialogue (or lack thereof.) Doyle’s ability to capture the intensity and inner turmoil of his main character, Paula, is not only wholly engaging, but is also a reminder that men can indeed write full, real female characters. I will eagerly visit the earlier versions of these characters by reading the first two. Please note there is content related to intimate partner violence and child abuse. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book. All opinions are entirely my own.

I struggled with the Irish slang at first, and it took me a bit to get into it. But then, I fell for the 66-year old heroine who has four adult kids and just wants to live her best life! And it hasn’t always been easy. A former alcoholic and victim of domestic violence, she’s been widowed for 40 years and now has a boyfriend. But nothing serious, she enjoys living alone too much. Until her daughter decides to leave her family and moves back in with her. A challenge for both of them.
Paula is quite a character, and she has a dry humor, really out of necessity. She’s been struggling all her life and her emotions are raw. We are following her over a couple of years during and right after the COVID lockdowns. Paula is reflecting about her past, her children, her friends, neighbors and everything around her. I almost felt like I was in Paula’s head all the time, and her mind was racing!
This novel is a refreshing take on modern times. I enjoyed it very much. It made me laugh and sad at the same time. But mostly, I admired Paula for never giving up. I wasn’t aware that there were previous books starring Paula Spencer. I will for sure look for them and am hoping a little bit that there might be another sequel following up on her story and her relationships.
I would like to thank Netgalley, Viking and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy. The above is my honest opinion and review.

Paula is an Irish mother of four adult children, who also is a reformed alcoholic. She and her friend Mary have made plans to get their Covid vaccine in their town, and to spend the day together.. There begins a witty, engaging backstory of how Paula had been married to an abusive husband, and struggled for years to be the mother her children deserved. Paula’s alcoholism, and her husband’s emotional abuse of their children, has caused their daughter Nicola to become like the parent rather than the child. Nicola has become the perfect career woma, wife and mother, while masking her own deep scars. When Paula and Nicola become isolated together at Paula’s home, they both resent each other, at turns hate each other, and still share a deep love. These ‘women behind the door’, reveal old wounds and come to accept each other, warts and all. Great read!

Roddy Doyle is the best as conveying complex emotions through conversation. He makes a painful conversation between a mother and daughter about the regrets and hurt they have had to endure flow beautifully.

Roddy Doyle has communication down pat. His last book, Love, featured two Dubliners, both men, on a pubcrawl. Here, he shifts to women, adding to a series he began some time ago. Mother Paula and daughter Nicola find themselves in Covid lockdown, and while there are earlier books featuring Paula, this could work as a standalone.

Paula is an older woman, dealing with thoughts of her past, her daughter, Nicola comes to stay with her during covid. a good story about mothers and daughters.

Thank you to Penguin Viking and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC of Roddy Doyle's 'The Women Behind the Door.'

It's 30 years since Paula Spencer first saw the light of day on TV and 28 since she, Charlo, and their children - including Nicola - appeared in print in 'The Woman Who Walked into Doors.'

This sequel (a second, after 'Paula Spencer' in 2006), picks up when Paula is in her mid-late 60s but still suffering from not only the trauma of being beaten and abused by her (now dead) husband Charlo but the trauma and guilt of her parenting of her children, especially Nicola who became like the parent in the relationship and remained that way in the intervening decades.

She seems to be in a good spot in her life - a job, a some-time partner and is even enjoying the oddness of Covid lockdowns and vaccination trips - when, out of the blue, Nicola arrives at her door asking to stay having left her husband and remaining child at home.

What transpires is a narrative that leaps to-and-fro over the years and shows how the trauma echoes through the decades and across families.

The emotional rawness between mother and daughter is exposed and the sheer complexity of the emotions involved - anger, fear, love, jealousy, regret, and on and one - is bewildering. It's not complete redemption for Paula but she tries her best to reclaim the role of mother that she ceded to her teenage daughter 30 years previously.

Maybe it helps to have read the original (or seen the TV series that preceded it) and to also know the Dublin she's talking about but I felt that it was another powerful and heartbreaking addition to Paula Spencer's story and Roddy Doyle's work.

The Women Behind the Door is a strong read about an older woman, Paula, revisiting her past in her thoughts as well as dealing with the pressures of the present. During COVID, her oldest daughter, Nicola, an epitome of the perfect, comes to live with her, and Paula’s conscience takes us on an emotional rollercoaster.
3.5 stars rounded up.
Plot 3
Characterisation 4
Prose 3.5

Thank you Netgalley for granting me this read. I am sorry to disappoint but I just could not find my way into this story. I attempted it three times and failed. i just didn't see the point.

Roddy Doyle has written an emotional moving novel about a mother &daughter living together during covid.Their difficult time trying to understand each other will resonate with many readers.I was engaged from first to last page.#netgalley #penguin