The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

The title of this book, The Secret Scripture, made me think I was about to read a religious novel. I found this not to be the case. Of course, the root of the story does have religious underpinnings that are crucial to understanding the plight of the main character, Roseanne Clear; but mostly it’s a story of tragedy and mystery.

Roseanne, a 100 year-old mental patient at an old Irish asylum, is writing her autobiography. She tries to piece together from memories (which often change with time and trauma) the story of her life and people who impacted her. The deep love she has for her father, Joe Clear, and her loss of him in childhood, plays a major role in the woman she becomes. She writes, “How I would like to say that I loved my father so much that I could not have lived without him, but such an avowal would be proved false in time. Those that we love, those essential beings, are removed from us at the will of the Almighty, or the devils that usurp him. It is as if a huge lump of lead were lain over the soul, such deaths, and where that soul was previously weightless, now is a secret and ruinous burden at the very heart of us.”

Dr. Grene, the institution’s psychiatrist and Roseanne’s caregiver, shares his story as he investigates the reasons why Roseanne was committed. The asylum is scheduled to be destroyed and all those in it must be moved or set free. As Dr. Grene examines Roseanne’s life and how she came to be in such a place, he begins to unravel a gripping mystery born of ill-fated tragedies.

This Irish novel is beautifully written. As you read the lyrical prose you can almost hear the musical brogue in your head. The Secret Scripture, a finalist for the Man Booker Prize in 2009, in its search for truth shows us how unreliable memory can be; whether the uncertainty has to do with human motives, or the act of writing itself, is up to you to decide.