Alice Taylor is een geliefde Ierse auteur wiens werk diep geworteld is in haar verbinding met het plattelandsleven in County Cork. Haar schrijven kenmerkt zich door een authentieke weergave van menselijke relaties, landschappen en tradities, vaak gericht op thema's als familie en gemeenschap. Taylor bezit een uniek vermogen om de essentie van het Ierse platteland te vangen, en biedt lezers een ontroerend en herkenbaar inkijkje in het leven. Haar verhalen resoneren bij een breed publiek vanwege hun oprechtheid en warmte.
Am I cocooning or self-isolating? In today's climate both words mean the same
thing, but it's amazing the different picture each word paints in our
subconscious. Alice Taylor explores wellbeing, what community now means and so
many other topics thrown into sharp relief by the arrival of COVID19.
Some people are home alone by choice, while others, like Alice, journeyed into
it through a change of circumstances. Alice discovers the challenges and
pleasures of living alone.
Alice Taylor takes a journey back to the 1940s and 1950s in rural Ireland
through the well-used schoolbooks that she has kept from that time. Poetry,
legends, stories and history evoke a way of life, and pace of life, that's
long changed.
A classic memoir from Ireland’s favourite storyteller. Here Taylor follows To School Through The Fields with these equally captivating recollections of family life in pastorial County Cork. Infused with wit and lyricism, the story centres on the 1950's when the author and her friends were teenagers. She describes the past vividly and without complaint as the years of hard labour for herself, parents and siblings, were also filled with fun in the close knit community.
This sequel to The Woman of the House and Across the River is a story of love
for the home place and of the passions and jealousies it can inspire. A story
of grief and trying to cope with loss, but also of resilience in the face of
family tragedy.
Alice Taylor remembers her childhood home - the farm with all its tools and animals, the home with its equipment for living, its daily challenges, constant hard work, and its comforts too. She describes the huge open fireplace where all the cooking was done, where the big black kettle hung permanently from the crane over the flames; here the family sat in the evenings, talking, knitting, going over the events of the day, saying the rosary. She experienced the sow being brought indoors to have her precious brood of bonhams. She recalls the faithful, beloved horses and their wonderfully varied outfits - one set of tackle for each job they did on the farm; the ritual of lighting the oil lamps - from the fancy one in the parlour to the tiny one under the Sacred Heart picture; the excitement of threshing day and the satisfaction of a good harvest - the stations, the neighbours, and later the local dancehall and cinema. All the jobs and tools of a way of life long gone live on in the hearts of those who were formed by it. Here Alice Taylor celebrates them all with love. 'magical ... reading the book, I felt a faint ache in my heart ... I find myself longing for those days ... it is essential reading.' Irish Independent
Alice’s garden is her refuge. Inherited from Uncle Jacky, she introduces the
great variety of plants and objects she has gathered – everything, of course,
with its own unique and fascinating story, brought to life by a master
storyteller.
The Phelans have owned Mossgrove for generations. The small, rural Irish farm has been the pride of them all until Ned's wife, Martha, arrives and begins to undermine generations of hard work and happiness. She resents the deep history of the place and sets about making it her own, shutting out what is left of Ned's family. She is particularly jealous of Ned's sister, Kate, a local nurse and doting aunt to Martha's children. When Ned dies suddenly, Martha puts Mossgrove up for sale in hopes that it will be bought by the neighbouring Conways, who have long coveted the Phelan farm. What she does not realize are the lengths to which Kate and the hired hand Jack will go to keep the land in the family ...