Agnes Browne - by Brendan O'Carroll (Paperback)

About the Book

A popular Irish comedian chronicles with raw humor and great affection the comic misadventures of a large and lively North Dublin family in the 1960s. A film version, directed by and starring Anjelica Huston, is scheduled for U.S. release this December.

Book Synopsis

Now a major motion picture starring Anjelica Huston

"Mammy" is what Irish children call their mothers and The Mammy is Agnes Browne--a widow struggling to raise seven children in a North Dublin neighborhood in the 1960s. Popular Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll chronicles the comic misadventures of this large and lively family with raw humor and great affection. Forced to be mother, father, and referee to her battling clan, the ever-resourceful Agnes Browne occasionally finds a spare moment to trade gossip and quips with her best pal Marion Monks (alias "The Kaiser") and even finds herself pursued by the amorous Frenchman who runs the local pizza parlor.

Like the novels of Roddy Doyle, The Mammy features pitch-perfect dialogue, lightning wit, and a host of colorful characters. Earthy and exuberant, the novel brilliantly captures the brash energy and cheerful irreverence of working-class Irish life.

Review Quotes

Praise for The Mammy
"I think Brendan O'Carroll is Agnes Browne, and if he's not, he's done one hell of a job capturing the absolute essence of a widowed mother in working-class Dublin."--Anjelica Huston

"How to lose weight: Read The Mammy. You will laugh your arse off and your tears will do away with your water-retention problem. It is an uproariously funny account of growing up in inner-city Dublin--a laugh-out loud book with a Dickensian twist to it."--Malachy McCourt, author of A Monk Swimming

"Hilarious and irreverent. A must-read."--Gabriel Byrne

Praise for The Chisellers
"A brilliant book."--Sunday Independent (London)

"By turns funny, wise and heartbreaking, this Irish Tales of the City is O'Carroll's second book in his Mrs. Browne trilogy; the first, The Mammy, received high praise after publication in the U.S. last year. Featuring eccentric characters who are charming, irreverent and believable, the story continues in 1973 with Agnes Browne at center stage... This lively novel features a wedding, a funeral and an ending that will melt the hardest heart. Readers will eagerly await the third book in this series."--Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Granny
"O'Carroll is a popular stand-up comic, and he writes with an easy sense of humor... winning and likable."--Kirkus Reviews

"These Dubliners are irresistibly charming... Tales of working-class Irish life now fill bookshelves, but there's space aplenty for O'Carroll's sturdy contribution."--Publishers Weekly

Praise for The Young Wan
"An almost surefire winner... one of those books that demands to be read in one sitting."--The Irish Voice

About the Author

Brendan O'Carroll, the youngest of eleven children, was born in Stonybatter, a North Dublin neighborhood, in 1955. He is an acclaimed playwright and Ireland's most popular stand-up comedian. The creator of a hugely successful Irish radio show, Mrs. Browne's Boys (the genesis of his novels), O'Carroll is also an actor and has a role in the upcoming film version of Angela's Ashes. All the books in his Mrs. Browne trilogy were #1 bestsellers in his native Ireland. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.