Book Review of Allan Square by Shirley Murphy

Poverty and Dark Humor Reminiscent of Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes

May 18, 2009

Murphy tells of her life growing up on Allan Square in St. John's, Newfoundland during the 1940s and 1950s. It is a story of poverty, violence, humor and family ties.

Although not written with the same smoothness as Angela’s Ashes, Allan Square is also an absorbing tale of stubborn survival by an individual who possesses the ability to see the humor in the darker aspects of poverty.

Shirley Murphy does not spare the reader’s sensibilities. She has written this book with honesty and gives graphic details of the street life in a rough neighborhood of old St. John’s. Shirley describes vividly the gritty language and rough behaviors that were an everyday part of life.

Author Shirley Murphy

Shirley Murphy was born and raised in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She was born on Livingstone Street and grew up, after age one, on Allan Square. She left when she was married at age twenty-three, and currently lives in Bowmanville, Ontario, with her second husband.

Murphy has written weekly columns for different newspapers, including the original Toronto Sunday Sun. This memoir, Allan Square, is her first book.

Allan Square: A St. John’s Memoir

In Allan Square, Murphy tells of her childhood growing up during the 1940s and 1950s, in one of the roughest neighborhoods in St. John’s. With the death of her father when she was seven, life changed radically for her. With an alcoholic stepfather, four brothers, and a mother who seemed to enjoy a good fight, Shirley lived in violent poverty.

Besides Shirley’s stubborn will and offbeat humor, several other factors seem to have contributed to her survival. Despite the low standard of living, there was a sense of community in her neighborhood. This, coupled with strong family ties and her ability to survive the harsh strictness of the Catholic school she attended, allowed her natural intelligence and talents to surface, giving her self-esteem a much needed boost.

This memoir is accompanied by several pages of black and white photographs. They add to the human face of the book by supplying the reality of the people and settings of the story.

Allan Square presents a contrasting perspective to the memoirs of outport Newfoundland, with its culture of the sea and fishing. Even though some elements are comparable, this memoir provides a different view of growing up in Newfoundland during this era.

The graphic honesty and rawness of this book will not appeal to everyone. However, there is a touching quality to the humorous way that Shirley Murphy recounts her broken coming-of-age. The reader who is hooked will keep turning pages and rooting for her until the end.

The copyright of the article Book Review of Allan Square by Shirley Murphy in Biographies/Memoirs is owned by Stella Walsh. Permission to republish Book Review of Allan Square by Shirley Murphy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.