On Charlotte's Shoulders - Julie Monahan

A memoir of a tough Irish childhood and a mother’s love

In a dank Dublin tenement in 1942, Julie meets a stranger– her father. Like her severely ill sisters, her father is on the periphery of her early family life, whereas her ma isher bedrock – a feisty hard-working woman who singlehandedlystruggles to put food on the table and shoes onthe feet of her large family, and does not suff er fools gladly.

Young Julie plays happily in the street with her siblingsand cousins, dreaming of being a singer, unaware of manyof her ma’s daily battles and ignorant of a better life, butas she grows into a young woman and sees her family gothrough poverty, illness and heart-breaking troubles, sheunderstands the extent of her ma’s bravery.

On Charlotte’s Shoulders is a touching family portrait of thechallenges of Irish family life in the 40s and 50s.