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The Woman Who Walked into Doors

The Woman Who Walked into Doors

A Novel

About the Book

From the Booker Prize-winning author of Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, the heartrending story of a brave and tenacious housewife 

Paula Spencer is a thirty-nine-year-old working-class woman struggling to reclaim her dignity after marriage to an abusive husband and a worsening drinking problem. Paula recalls her contented childhood, the audacity she learned as a teenager, the exhilaration of her romance with Charlo, and the marriage to him that left her feeling powerless. Capturing both her vulnerability and her strength, Roddy Doyle gives Paula a voice that is real and unforgettable.
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Praise for The Woman Who Walked into Doors

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Boston Globe, Newsday, Publishers Weekly

"This unflinching novel chronicles a woman's relationship with a violent man in a way that brings fresh insight to the subject . . . engaging and uplifting." —O, The Oprah Magazine

"It is the triumph of this novel that Doyle - entirely without condescension - shows the inner life of this battered housewife to be the same stuff as that of the heroes of the great novels of Europe."- Mary Gordon, New York Times Book Review

"In feeling the pulse of a raw Dublin suburb, Doyle is recording a beat that can be recognised all over the world." ― The Times (London)

"This new novel is Roddy Doyle's best to date. I cannot recall any writer who has better captured the vulnerability and courage of a woman trapped in a loveless marriage." ― Cork Examiner (Ireland)

"Even more mesmerizing than his prize-winning Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha." ― Daily Mail (London)

"Impassioned, dignified and richly humane." ― Independent (London)


"Compulsively readable" ― Financial Times


"Roddy Doyle's unsparing examination of a brutal marriage transcends the boundaries of class and nationhood." -- The Times (London)
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A Paula Spencer Novel Series

Paula Spencer
The Woman Who Walked into Doors

About the Author

Roddy Doyle
RODDY DOYLE was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of ten acclaimed novels, including The Commitments, The Van (a finalist for the Booker Prize), Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (winner of the Booker Prize), The Woman Who Walked Into Doors, A Star Called Henry, The Guts and most recently, Love. Doyle has also written several collections of stories, as well as Two Pints, Two More Pints and Two for the Road, and several works for children and young adults including the Rover novels. He lives in Dublin. More by Roddy Doyle
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