In a fearless and honest memoir, an ordinary Irish woman recounts an extraordinary life. Born 'chronically ugly and cross as a briar' into a poor rural homestead in 1920s Ireland, Maura Murphy left school at 14 and arrived in Dublin where she worked in service until she married. Later, poverty-stricken and with five young children, the family left Ireland for Birmingham of the 1950s, where they hoped to find a better life.



At 75 years old, recovering from cancer and having left her marriage of 50 years, Maura Murphy told her story, from her early days running wild in the Irish countryside, to her destructive marriage to a hard-working, hard-drinking womaniser, the birth of her nine children, and a life-or-death choice that would change her forever.



Hers is a story that will resonate with Irish and English alike, her voice the voice of a forgotten generation. Told with biting wit, DON'T WAKE ME AT DOYLES contains all the explosive power of ANGELA'S ASHES - told by Angela.