Stealing Sunlight: Growing Up in Irishtown (ISBN 1899047719)

Triumph over miserable conditions:
After an uncertain and slightly off-putting start from over-writing in the first few pages, the book settles down into an excellent account of growing up in Dublin. It is another take on the miserable Irish Catholic childhood -- but, even with all the grinding poverty (including the same barely existent toilet facilities), is less miserable than the McCourt version and the better (and more believable) for that. The mother is another sainted figure while the Da is a more complex strain of the breed -- a flawed character with redeeming qualities. The plentiful humor is unforced, coming mainly from the salty idiom of the Dublin streets.

Better than a female Frank McCourt:
Stealing Sunlight is a clear-eyed reflection on the author's poverty-stricken childhood and adolescence in Dublin. The book is a series of gritty vignettes dispasionately relating her life's story. She pays homage to the people that helped her to survive the grinding poverty that seemed to be her inescapable lot in life. Blain speaks for herself but also for the other Irish working class girls who were never able to tell their own stories. A scathing indictment against the Catholic Church, and a glowing affirmation for the strong community that existed in working class Dublin. A great read!

I loved this book!:
This book is a beautiful piece of work. The writing and the story is both haunting and hopeful. I can't wait to read what happens after she comes to America.