In the sixth episode of the Working Class Library, Kevin Barry joins Claire Malcolm, chief executive of New Writing North, and Richard Benson, editor of The Bee, to discuss Frank McCourt’s 1996 memoir Angela’s Ashes.

McCourt’s account of his poverty-stricken childhood in New York and Limerick has sold ten million copies to date, and has been translated into more than 25 languages. Previously reluctant to believe anyone would be interested in the story of a poor family, the former schoolteacher waited until he was in his 60s to write and publish the book. As Kevin Barry explains, the scale of its success, and perhaps its false association with the 'misery memoir' genre, can obscure the brilliance of McCourt’s craft. In their discussion, recorded live at Hexham Book Festival, Kevin, Claire and Richard set it firmly in the Irish literary firmament.

Kevin provides special insight into the Irish setting of the story, as he reveals that his father knew the McCourts, and even went to the same school – Leamy’s – where young Frank was educated. At the end, we ask if it deserves a place on the shelves of our imaginary library of great books by and about ordinary people.

If you have any thoughts or comments on the episode – and particularly if you’ve got any theories about exactly why the book is called Angela’s Ashes, then please share them with us on our social media channels.

Books and Authors Mentioned

Kevin Barry – Beatlebone, City of Bohane, Dark Lies the Island, There Are Little Kingdoms, Night Boat to Tangier, The Heart in Winter, That Old Country Music

Michael Curtin – The Cove Shivering Club, The League Against Christmas, The Plastic Tomato Cutter, The Replay, The Self-Made Men, Sing!

Frank McCourt – Angela’s Ashes, Teacher Man, ’Tis

Máirtín Ó Cadhain – Cre na Cille

James Plunkett – Strumpet City

James T Farrell – Studs Lonigan

From the Republic of Conscience: Stories Inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (anthology)

A Guide to Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Siobhan McShane’s introduction to the plot, characters and historical background of Frank McCourt’s working-class memoir of growing up in poverty in Ireland in the 1930s and 1940s.

The BeeSiobhan McShane

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