The Fallen

A searing account … Enraging … a detailed, thoroughgoing … superb if horrifying testament – John Banville * Guardian *Louise Brangan takes our hazy ideas of such institutions and replaces them with the stark reality … Brangan’s remarkable book, thrumming with rage and harrowing to read, is a monument to [the] women and their suffering – Laura Hackett * Sunday Times *Critical, informed and beautifully written, The Fallen makes the case for a genuinely transformative response to Ireland’s histories of religious incarceration – Máiréad EnrightEngrossing … it feels part novel … [Brangan] is an accomplished communicator, the reader feels like they are accompanying her as she burrows into the conditions of the soil from which the laundries grew … This meticulously researched book … helps us see more clearly. – Mary McCarthy * Irish Independent *A terrific yet harrowing unearthing of Ireland’s shadowland. I thought I knew about the Magdalene Laundries. I was wrong. Brangan’s chronicle is limpid, eloquent and devastating. A landmark book. – Rory CarrollCompelling, measured and deeply felt; Brangan cuts through shame and fable to tell the truth about the ‘inconvenient’ women whose lives were stolen by the Magdalene Laundries. Indispensable. – Anne Enrightpowerful … authoritative, quietly passionate account … [a] fine narrative – Bel Mooney * Mail on Sunday *Vivid … The Fallen is a highly readable and intelligently engaging account of this systemic injustice [of the Magdalene laundries], and it should prompt a wider reflection both inside and beyond Ireland on the ways in which societies can become inured to the evil all around them. – Fintan O’Toole * Times Literary Supplement *An extraordinary gift … Within the first 15 pages of The Fallen, this book was inviting me to rethink this history, revealing these institutions and the vexed history of our country in a way I’ve never encountered. My heart was racing as I read the rest (believe it or not, this book is both an education and a page-turner). I am in awe of its meticulous scholarship, and the compelling clarity and courage of the writing. How I wish that it could be studied in every Irish school. Brava, Louise Brangan — I hope I get to meet you someday, to thank you in person for writing this powerful, urgent book. – Doireann Ní GhríofaA devastating read … Brangan’s book forensically charts the history of the laundries through the stories of several women … It is an account of a near century of unfathomable cruelty, the threat of populist ideology, and the danger of silence and compliance, all made more astounding for its recency. – Sarah Carson * i *This exceptional history … delivers a profoundly haunting account of stolen lives * Publishers Weekly *Louise Brangan has made a serious contribution to a subject that has still not been laid to rest. Her vivid , fluent, frightening and deeply compassionate account of Ireland’s shameful treatment of these girls and women deserves to be read by anyone with an interest in our past and our future – Catriona Crowe * Irish Times *A forensic … detailed and haunting history … Reading The Fallen, even given all that I already knew of the Magdalene Laundries, the toxic mix of piousness and relentless cruelty became even harder to fathom. – Seán O’Hagan * Observer *A riveting but heartbreaking story. Highly recommend it – Brendan Dowd * History Nerds United *A wrenching reminder that human injustice repeats in the dark corners of human history—and a call to remain attentive * Kirkus *Breaking silence is a catalyst for change and the lived experiences of survivors in this book demand a reckoning, challenging us to ask ourselves what systemic injustices we are normalising to this day. – Caelainn Hogan

Dr Louise Brangan is an Irish academic who researches injustice and punishment. She is a 2023 BBC and AHRC New Generation Thinker and winner of the 2024 Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Award. She lives and works in Scotland.

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