Mary, Mary

This was James Stephens’s first novel, published in Dublin as The Charwoman’s Daughter and in America under this title. It follows Mary Makebelieve, a sheltered sixteen-year-old who lives with her hardworking mother in a cramped Dublin tenement and fills her days wandering the city and daydreaming. When two very different men begin to court her, a burly policeman and a gentler young clerk, Mary’s imagined world collides with the practical questions of money and marriage. Stephens writes with a light, whimsical touch and genuine affection for the poor of Dublin, giving a slender coming-of-age story an unexpected charm and warmth. Free to download as a PDF and EPUB edition.