The Rising of Bella Casey

From a piano abandoned on the strife-torn streets of Dublin at Easter 1916, Mary Morrissy spins the reader backwards through the life of enigmatic beauty Bella Casey, sister of the famed playwright Seán O'Casey. The real and imagined are entwined in a haunting and deeply affecting novel of sexual secrets, obsession and desires.

Content warning: Contains some violence and/or strong language.

©2013 Mary Morrissy. The quotations from Seán O’Casey’s work that appear in the text are reproduced by kind permission of the O’Casey estate. (P)2020 Bolinda Publishing

Reseñas de la Crítica

'... elegant and unadorned at the same time ... an intimate portrait of a woman and a depiction of Irish history at its most extreme ... a wonderful book from one of our finest writers.' (Colum McCann, author of Apeirogon)

'Mary Morrissy has a genius for lifting characters out of the dim backgrounds of history and brilliantly illuminating them. In The Rising of Bella Casey she evokes the rich Dublin world of the plays of Seán O'Casey.' (John Banville, Booker Prize winner)

'One of the most intelligent, well-written and well-researched historical novels I have read. Mary Morrissy is the Irish Hilary Mantel.' (Eilis Ní Dhuibhne)