“Angela's Ashes” is memoirs by the Irish-American author Frank McCourt that depicts his poor childhood in Limerick. It is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. The book, which brought the author Pulitzer Prize for 1997.

Poverty drove the Irish across the ocean to America, and it drove them back during the Great Depression.

The family of Frank McCourt was forced to leave America back to Ireland, to Limerick, when things went bad in a foreign country, there was no work, and then the youngest child, their beloved daughter died. Angela, the mother of the family, thought that it would be easier in her homeland but she was wrong. Relatives do not really want to help, even the mother, because Angela married a drunkard from the North. Malachy, the father, was inclined to drink everything in pubs, while children died. Their house became worse and worse; rats ran around the house, fleas were cute crumbs compared with lice. And the heavy burden of responsibility that fell on the shoulders of a little boy who was forced to become the real head of the family.

The narrator is the eldest son, Frank, at the beginning of the book he is 4, by the end - about 20. All this time he has been dreaming of returning to America because everyone there lives like movie stars. And in the end, his dream comes true, but at a great cost.

At first sight, it is gloomy in its despair book about Irish poverty, but then you will find it optimistic. In these terrible conditions, the hero was able to grow an intelligent person, as far as the upbringing in general allowed, or rather, his absence. McCourt managed to embody his memories in a verbal form. Everybody will find something for him or her to admire in the book.

Author: Ralph Boyd