Product Description

Desmond Doyle, 29, a painter and decorator, is married with six children and living in the infamous Fatima Mansions in Dublin in 1953. One day he comes home to find his wife has left him. He decides to go to England to find work and is advised to put his children into the state Industrial Schools system for a short time until he returns. When he returns he is told to his horror that the children have been consigned to the state until they are 16. This is the story of how Desmond Doyle fought the Irish legal system to change the law and win back his family. Told through the eyes of Evelyn, Desmond's nine-year-old daughter, this is a moving and poignant true story, beautifully told.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #286382 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Evelyn Doyle's Evelyn: A True Story takes us into a little known arena of the fight against a repressive state. And the result is a concise memoir that delivers a considerable emotional punch in its measured tones. James Joyce famously railed against the more repressive aspects of his native country, and for all its considerable beauty, the iniquities of the Establishment (both Church and State) in Ireland are well known.

In 1953, Desmond Doyle was a decorator living with his six children in the grim Fatima Mansions estate of Dublin when his wife left him. Against his better judgment, he decided to place his children in the care of the state industrial schools until he returned from working in England. But Doyle was horrified to discover on his return that his children had been consigned to state care until their teenage years. The bruising battle that Doyle and his solicitors undertook against the Irish legal system gained wide publicity and resulted in massive legal change: the Children Act of 1941 was broken, and Doyle was reunited with his family. Evelyn Doyle was nine years old at the time, and the story, as seen from her point of view, is both heartbreaking and suspenseful. In the battle against an entrenched and intransigent legal system, the human elements are never submerged, and Evelyn: A True Story is a deeply affecting and poignant real-life story that engages the reader quite as comprehensively as any novel by William Trevor or Edna O'Brien. --Barry Forshaw

Review
EVELYN entered the SUNDAY TIMES bestseller list at NO 2 (30/3/03). NATIONAL PRESS: CHAT magazine - author interview 27 FebruarySUNDAY MIRROR - interview with Evelyn on 8th March. We have still to confirm when this will run, but the likely date is 23 MarchWOMAN'S WEEKLY - interview with Evelyn week of 1 April SUNDAY TIMES MAGAZINE - 'Relative Values' with Evelyn and one of her brothers will run at the beginning of March. THE GUARDIAN ran a half page news story about Evelyn Doyle and the film on 22 March and the EVENING STANDARD carried an article about the Brosnan and the film on 21 March. REGIONAL PRESS: Copy of the book given to 120 regional journalists who attended a screening of the film EVELYN in February. GLASGOW EVENING HERALD - an interview with Evelynwill run the week of 24 February. DUNDEE SUNDAY POST ran an interview with Evelyn on 16 March and the MANCHESTER EVENING NEWS ran an interview on 5 March. CONFIRMED REVIEWS:THE EXPRESS 29/3/03OK magazine 8/3/03Glasgow Evening TimesSunday Tribune IRISH PUBLICITY: An article written by Evelyn about her experience in the Industrial Schools will appear in the IRISH TIMES to tie-in withthe paperback and film release. The IRISH TIMES also ran a news story about the film premiere, including a photo of Evelyn Doyle and Pierce Brosnan, and mentioned the book, on 22 March. EVENT:Evelyn will be talking about her book at the Hammersmith Irish Centre on Saturday 8th March and will be appearing at

About the Author
Evelyn Doyle now lives in Scotland with her partner of 14 years Michael. She trained as a psychiatric nurse, then became a police officer and later moved on to running her own patisserie company. She has one, Benjamin, and grandson, Joshua.

Customer Reviews

Evelyn - A Triumph
It was difficult to read the last few pages of this book through watery eyes. I have never cried while reading before, but they were tears of joy... Evelyn Doyle uses a simple writing style to convey a very personal and powerful story of a fathers love for his children. In light of the current climate, it was heart-warming to see that some children have happy memories of life in the Irish Industrial School System. An excellent read!! Looking forward to the sequel.

I laughed and I cried .................
..... throughout this heart rending tale. Evelyn is the story of one man's struggle to keep his family together, as told by the eldest daughter of the family. The spirited eight year old Evelyn, whose father changed Irish legal history, tells her tale in such a way that the book has universal appeal. This is a real page turner.

Evelyns Song.
Evelyn Doyle has the ability to transport the reader back through the troubled and vibrant years of long vanished Ireland.She shines a bright light on the world of a little girl old before her time, struggling to make sense of family, torn love and her vanishing lifestyle.It is a delight to read, because the voice of that lost chidhood seems fresh and spoken just to you, the reader, with all the intimate personal thoughts of a family friend.