7.6 /10 1 Votes
Country Ireland Publication date 1996 ISBN 0-224-04272-6 Followed by Paula Spencer | 3.8/5 Goodreads Language English Pages 226 Originally published 1996 Page count 226 Genre Fiction | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback) Publishers Jonathan Cape (UK), Viking Press (US) Similar Roddy Doyle books, Ireland books, Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The woman who walked into doors opera 2001
The Woman Who Walked Into Doors (1996) is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle, adapted from the 1994 RTÉ/BBC miniseries Family.
Contents
Plot summary
The novel tells the struggle and survival of an abused wife named Paula Spencer. It is narrated by the victim. The title comes from an incident narrated in the book, where Paula's husband asks her how she received a bruise he was responsible for, and she replies that she "walked into a door." A sequel, Paula Spencer, was published in 2006. The narrative blends her recounting of the circumstances of her childhood, courtship and wedding day, with reflections on those events. The gathering drama is linked to the increasing awareness of moving towards a climax, which is on the one hand the outbreak of violence in her marriage, and on the other hand the violent death of her husband.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
The Spencer family first appeared in the RTÉ/BBC miniseries Family in 1994.
The novel was adapted as an opera by the composer Kris Defoort and the director Guy Cassiers. It received its world premiere in November 2001 at deSingel in Antwerp, and toured extensively before being played in Dublin's Gaiety Theatre in October 2003.