But when he starts digging, he finds that her history is shrouded in mystery, and she frustratingly refuses to talk about it.
Barry does an amazing job with narrative in this novel. It is told in alternating first person--in Dr. Greene's first person point of view, and then in Roseanne's first person point of view. He does a very creditable job of bringing each of them to life through their own words and perceptions.
The Problem of Memory in the Secret Scripture:
What Barry does better than many other authors is provide deep ambiguity through first person memory. Roseanne, in her own writing, tells her life story, one that is riddled with holes due to both her age and the difficulty of the things she has lived through. She writes things down as best she can, but the reader realizes that although the majority of her story is true, there are great gaps that she leaves out.
Some of these gaps are filled in by Dr. Greene, as he finds himself further frustrated in an attempt to gain her medical records, which have been damaged or destroyed as she was transferred from one facility to another. But the doctor also finds even more gaps, as he reads the words of people who were intentionally deceptive, thereby creating more questions than answers.
"Unfathomable. Fathoms. I wonder is that the difficulty, that my memories and my imaginings are lying deeply in the same place? Or one on top of the other like layers of shells and sand in a piece of limestone, so that they both become the same element, and I cannot distinguish one from the other with any ease..." says Roseanne as she writes her story.
Politics, Love and Sexism:
Roseanne's story takes place in a troubled, violent Ireland. Politics heavily influence her memories, as the reader learns late in the story. Her memories are, indeed, layered as she says (above), but the truth is understandably too much to handle.
It is during this time that an unmarried woman is nothing more than a pawn, and one with spirit and without guile is doomed to a life of hardship. Thus, the bulk of Roseanne's life is spent institutionalized through no fault of her own. Her gender and trusting nature cause her life of enclosure.
And throughout the story, just as Roseanne recounts her lost love and what it cost her, so too is Dr. Greene learning about love as his wife slips from his hands. Only then, and through Roseanne's writing, does he fully understand the nature of love--both it's loss and its misuse.
The Author of The Secret Scripture:
Sebastian Barry is an Irish novelist, poet and playwright. He has been listed for the Man Booker Prize twice, and won the Costa Book Award 2008. He currently lives in County Wicklow, Ireland. He is the author of six books and numerous plays, including A Long Long Way and Andersens English (2010).
The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry. Faber and Faber 2008. ISBN:978-0-571-21529-4
Victoria Oldham - Victoria is a freelance writer from Southern California, currently living in the Midlands of England with her partner. She is in the ...
