A review by annajoyreed93
A Ghost In The Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Part memoir, part historical nonfiction, part something entirely new - a lyrical exploration of femininity and the sometimes blissful sometimes excruciating surrender found in giving of oneself. The flow of chapters was a bit choppy for me at times, but I enjoyed this unique read. I was left itching to explore poetry written by this author.
“In pregnancy, I read, pluripotent cells from the foetus move through the placenta and enter the mother’s bloodstream. Within her body, they cling to tissues, mimicking the composition of surrounding cells, and there, they remain, long after the baby has left. A collection of such cells from subsequent siblings may be all stored within the mother simultaneously, each cluster coordinating and conflicting with a mothers own bodily impulses. I think of Máire Ní Dhuibh, alone on the strand, her eye on the horizon, as her twin infants swim the ocean inside her. Even after both had grown and gone, she may have returned there, thinking of her daughters, far away in their own lives. Just as they remained in her thoughts, some of their cellular matter also remained in her body, vestigial, lingering.”
“In pregnancy, I read, pluripotent cells from the foetus move through the placenta and enter the mother’s bloodstream. Within her body, they cling to tissues, mimicking the composition of surrounding cells, and there, they remain, long after the baby has left. A collection of such cells from subsequent siblings may be all stored within the mother simultaneously, each cluster coordinating and conflicting with a mothers own bodily impulses. I think of Máire Ní Dhuibh, alone on the strand, her eye on the horizon, as her twin infants swim the ocean inside her. Even after both had grown and gone, she may have returned there, thinking of her daughters, far away in their own lives. Just as they remained in her thoughts, some of their cellular matter also remained in her body, vestigial, lingering.”