Book Review: Paula Spencer

Paula Spencer is trying as hard as she can. She just turned forty-eight and she hasn’t had a drink in months. Her relationship with her family is strained, but she wants to fix that.

In Paula Spencer, Roddy Doyle returns to the protagonist of The Woman Who Walked into Doors. In the earlier book, Paula was coping with a horribly abusive husband by drinking heavily. Doyle’s newest novel resumes Paula’s story ten years after her husband’s death.

Set in present-day Dublin, the story follows Paula’s attempt to stop drinking and reinvent herself. As she explains it, she’s “a new-old woman, learning how to live.” With the money she makes cleaning offices, Paula opens her first bank account. She discovers cell phones and the internet. She tries to look at ease when drinking a latté in a trendy café. Paula’s battles may look small, but it’s clear how important they are to her.

As Paula grows increasingly clear-headed, she discovers that other problems are just beginning. She hasn’t been a good mother to her four children, and she tries desperately to prevent them from making the same mistakes she made. Although her son has recovered from his heroin addiction, her younger daughter, Leanne, is well on her way to becoming an alcoholic. The scene in which Paula confronts Leanne about her drinking is one of the most emotionally gripping in the book. Paula also tries to patch up her relationship with her two sisters, which was damaged by Paula’s years of drinking.

Paula Spencer is written in Doyle’s characteristically staccato sentences, with large sections made up almost entirely of dialogue. The dialogue is witty, engaging, and wholly believable. Doyle gives us insight into Paula’s conflicted thoughts—she’s torn between love and hatred for her dead husband, and between the desire to stay sober and the craving for drink. Paula’s mistakes and inconsistencies make her a truly believable and likable character. Though the subject matter is painful at times, Paula Spencer is an engrossing novel that leaves the reader with a sense of optimism and quiet triumph.