Startling Fictional Debut
You will never forget this book. Rasherhouse is a searing account of young girl of humble means who gets trapped in a downward spiral of petty crime and drug addiction. The circumstances of her imprisonment, the emotions she displays as she is incarcerated, and the effects that prison life have on her possess a verisimilitude only made possible from someone well-acquainted with the modern-day penitentiary system--in this case, that found in Ireland. Alan Roberts, the author, plunges us into a world as real as our own, with dialogue that seems to have been transcribed directly from the bedroom, the back alley, and the prison cell. Reading this novel, you will walk the yards of Mountjoy Prison, feel the concussion of a cell door closing behind you and listen to the catcalls and obscenities echoing off the concrete walls at night as you lay on your cot trying to sleep. Roberts demonstrates ably that just as there is no escape here for "Mags," there is no escape here for us either--that the prison system in every country is a University of Crime that educates the young in more certain means of self-destruction, perpetuating the cycle of abuse and self-abuse that sends our violent crime rates soaring. If you cannot envision a world without prisons--do not read this book. You belong to the past that Roberts masterfully exposes. Few authors are capable of conveying such truth. That Roberts has done so in his first novel, causes the reader to anticipate his next work. The spine of this book will glow on your bookshelf. It does on mine.