The Greyhound of a Girl - Roddy Doyle

The storybook that I have read is titled , "The Greyhound of a Girl" , written by Roddy Doyle. Set in the heart of Ireland , this family adventure kicks off when Mary O'Hara , a 12-year-old girl and main character , meets the ghost of her great-grandmother. Over the course of the story , 4 generations of daughters , Mary , her mother , her grandmother and her great-grandmother , not only make loose ends of the past meet , but also obtain a further understanding of it.

Mary had a friend named Ava. Ava's parents had decided to move to a different part of Dublin. That sickened Mary. Mary had a short argument with Ava's mother when she tried to persuade her to let Ava stay with her family instead. She couldn't understand why parents - Ava's parents - aren't as devoted as she is when it comes to friendships and let their child - Ava - stay. Now , Mary has to walk back home alone , more often than not , feeling Ava beside her. Her heart can only sink as she turns her head and find Ava's absence. She knows for herself that Ava isn't there but it sure doesn't feel like it. Ava has now become Mary's phantom limb.

Mary has two older brothers whom she used to be close with. But over time , their physical and personal nature began changing , presumably from puberty , and Mary had never been a big fan of it. In Mary's eyes , they had turned into aliens. She was worried that she too would turn into the aliens her brothers are now. She wasn't concerned , however , about the changes to her body , but instead to the changes that happened to her brothers ; the changes that turned them into strangers.

Mary had this daily routine where she would enter her parent's bedroom and ask them , "Did you brush your teeth?" and other basic things a parent would say or ask their child. She had been doing that for years, after a memorable time when she read her father a bedtime story. But one night while walking back to her room , she realised something . Eventually , she wouldn't want to do it anymore . And soon enough she would stop doing this very thing she does every night , and that made Mary sad . Just simply put , as a child , how can you accept the fact that you won't be doing something anymore after doing it for years?

Yong Renn Kai
29/Jan/2014