Martina Devlin's Truth and Dare is an engaging, thought-provoking and inspirational collection of stories based on the lives of iconic Irish historical female figures.
The collection comprises, as the subtitle has it - short stories about women who shaped Ireland - in which the author endeavours to capture the spirit of these women through fictionalised and dramatized moments in their lives. Whether real or imagined, Devlin then uses these moments as a catalyst for bringing them back to life, creating a buzz and energy that can pull them forth from what she believes is the two-dimensional barren remembering of them.
Each chapter in the book is prefaced with a brief factual passage on the chosen female subject, detailing her achievements, controversies and legacy. These are very useful for establishing the historical and cultural context in which these women were living, and is especially so for those figures that readers may not be readily familiar with. For example, everybody recognises the name of Countess Markievicz and Maud Gonne, but perhaps not Alice Milligan - a key Celtic revival figure - or Violet Martin, a writer and suffragist from the same late nineteenth century period.
The common qualifying trait of the women chosen to be included in the collection, according to Devlin, is that they "stayed true to their cause and dared to pursue it... they rejected the limitations of mandate rules designed for men's benefit (and asked) - `why shouldn’t we shape our own destiny? '" With an introduction such as that, it’s hard not to be inspired by the collection.
Each woman was a step ahead of her time, challenging social, political and cultural norms and striving for something better, something different. It is easily forgotten that the reason Irish women are afforded the opportunities they are today is due in large part to these remarkable individuals. Nonetheless, despite the progress made throughout the years, more must still to be done. There is still a lack of female representation in our government and there are still homeless families on our streets who go hungry every night. Chapter seven, What would the countess say? envisages a scenario in which Markievicz is summoned back from the dead to modern day Ireland to challenge the status quo. In the resultant fantasy, the ambitions of many of the women have yet to be fully realised.
Not all the passages on the women focus on the trail-blazing attributes listed in history books, however. Some simply focus on times in their lives when they wept and grieved just as any other person does. A young mother grieving a lost son, or a sister hoarding money to try and save the condemned life of her brother - these tender moments are the beauty of the collection and amplify both our awe of them and connection to them.
The stories juxtapose the harrowing and the witty and Devlin's easily absorbed portraits are a charming way to become acquainted with these remarkably resilient leaders, pioneers and rebels alike. This collection is a must- read for those of all ages and genders, and one which I believe wouldn’t go amiss on the school curriculum.
Read an extract from Truth and Dare here
