Product Description

With his trademark wit and honesty, Peter Sheridan has written an enthralling account of his parents` relationship, from their first encounter over a poker game in a Dundalk canteen to their final, happy days together in retirement. But all was not as straightforward as it appeared for when Peter`s father died suddenly, it became painfully evident that an awkward situation needed to be resolved. Since the 1940s, Peter`s father had maintained a relationship with another woman, Doris. Their correspondence spanned five decades and Doris had long harboured the secret hope that Peter`s father would one day be hers. Someone would have to tell her about the death of her old friend... At turns humorous and heartbreaking, Forty-Seven Roses is the unforgettable tale of a love that can transcend even overpowering odds. It`s the account of a marriage dogged by a shadowy third partner, of fierce family pride and of how sometimes the pain of grief can re-ignite the vital spark of love.

`Sheridan`s writing is in a class of its own... this is a memoir to make you laugh and cry` - Sunday Express

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #476420 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Amazon.co.uk
The title of Peter Sheridan's second memoir Forty-Seven Roses refers to the number of flowers left on his father's grave by a long-standing friend, Doris. "A space had been cleared away in the centre, about where his heart would be. On it lay a fresh bunch of red and white roses." Sheridan's father, Peter, first met Doris in Dublin in 1947. If religion and politics hadn't conspired against them the couple would have more than likely married. In the event, Peter married Anna, Sheridan's mother, instead.

Throughout his parent's marriage, Doris was ever omnipresent and became a constant thorn in his mother's side, as over a period that spanned 47 years his father continued to maintain a relationship with the wife that never was, meeting occasionally and corresponding regularly. Following his Dad's sudden death, Sheridan sets out to discover why Doris remained faithful to a man she could never have and why his father held onto a fantasy that would never be fulfilled. As Sheridan forms a relationship with Doris himself, he begins to understand why his father never let go of the woman fate forced him to leave behind. What unfolds is the true story of one man's love for two women, and two women's love for one man. --Christopher Kelly

From Library Journal
In this sequel to his highly praised memoir, 44: Dublin Made Me, Sheridan a notable figure in the Irish theater recounts being summoned home for his father's death only to discover the sacrifices his father had made to keep his Catholic household together. "Da" (Peter the elder) had married "Ma" (Anna) at a young age in an Irish Catholic marriage sanctified by their parish priest even though Peter did not have parental approval. Several years later, Da met and fell in love with Doris, an Englishwoman and Protestant. While his conscience and church would never allow him to marry Doris, he could also never quite give her up. This is the story of their life together and apart. Ma knew about their relationship yet chose to keep her family together and agreed to allow Doris the occasional visit to the Sheridan household. This unconventional arrangement allowed Sheridan's parents to maintain their marriage for over 50 years. To Sheridan's credit, he sought out Doris after his father's death to learn the truth. The story he found is related in this moving account of the lives of his father, his mother, and Doris. Recommended for libraries with large memoir and Irish collections. Pam Kingsbury, Florence, AL
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
In the same intense groove as Campbell Armstrong's I Hope You Have a Good Life (2000), Sheridan traces the life of the father he did not know. There is his Da's relationship, over 47 years, with Doris, an Englishwoman, who is not the author's Irish mother, Anna. Anna's small, fierce self burns at the center of this tale as, after his father's sudden death, Sheridan tries to untangle his own feelings and the truth of his parents' and Doris' lives. Doris had not seen his father in 17 years, yet appeared at his funeral to lay the 47 red and white roses of the title on his grave. Sheridan's Da never left his family but never let go of Doris, either. The truths of the heart remain elusive, but Sheridan's longing to untangle the affections of his father's heart leads to the tenderest of revelations. Sheridan has spent his adult life in the Irish theater, and in this memoir, his language is as round in the mouth and fine on the tongue as a sip of Guinness. GraceAnne DeCandido
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