The Women Behind the Door

Reviews

A most-anticipated book of Fall 2024 from LitHub | PEOPLE | Los Angeles Review

“The women in Roddy Doyle’s The Women Behind the Door are so flawed. . .[a]nd they are such wonderful company: so funny, so direct, so emotional, so surprising.” —The Washington Post

“A showdown between mother and daughter that is about as emotionally painful as it gets. . . unflinching and dark, brutal in its economy, wry and mostly devastating.” —Fiona Maazel, The New York Times
 
“[The Women Behind the Door is a] miracle of a novel. . .with Paula, Doyle has created a fictional character as memorable as Molly Bloom or the Wife of Bath.” —Associated Press

“Possibly Doyle’s most mature, and certainly his most structurally sophisticated [novel].” —The Times
 
“An interestingly spiky portrait of late-life maternal ambivalence. . . .a wild and hilarious narrative voice. . . .The book deals with hard times and dark matters, but there’s always light in the writing.” —The Guardian
 
“Doyle has been described as ‘the undisputed laureate of ordinary lives’ and nowhere is that illustrated more in his work than with Paula Spencer.” —The Irish Times
 
“A novel of hauntings. . .There is lightness here, too—lightness and humor. . .Doyle is superb at channeling Paula’s interior voice: witty, cranky, desperately honest. The dialogue is spot-on.” —Laurie Hertzel, The Star Tribune

“Readers familiar with Doyle’s past novels won’t be surprised by the cheerfully profane dialogue and zippy vernacular on every page of this emotionally resonant work.” —Shelf Awareness

“A riveting, indelible portrait.” —PEOPLE

“In Doyle’s crisp, wry language, the story of that pain is just the story of life, along with all its small moments of levity and unexpected connection.” —The Washington Post

“An emotionally raw mother-daughter drama. . . Doyle’s compassionate chronicle of recovery and reconciliation is worth seeking out.” —Publishers Weekly

“[Doyle] excels in the singing speech of ordinary people that reveal the seething emotions underneath. . . .A gripping, blisteringly honest examination of issues too long swept under the rug.” —Kirkus

“Doyle’s writing about women is always sensitive and insightful but it is his inquiry into the human mind and heart which is most compelling of all.” —The Gloss
 
“[Doyle] is at his best documenting the daily lives of regular people, and that’s exactly what he’s done here.” —The Irish News

“[Doyle] brings his storytelling genius to a tale about a family crisis.” —iNews

“I’ve been reading Roddy Doyle’s since The Commitments, and I can’t imagine ever stopping. He is a brilliant, one-of-a-kind writer—passionate, funny and humane.” —David Nicholls, author of One Day

“With The Woman Who Walked Into Doors Roddy Doyle understood what we call ‘coercive control’ before society gave it a name. You might think that achievement enough, but he also gave us the wounded, yearning, beautiful heart of Paula Spencer. The character is a hymn to female generosity; the ordinary, discardable kind that keeps the world turning. Reading her voice for the first time sent a pang of recognition through me, followed by love.” —Anne Enright, author of Booker Prize-winner The Gathering Expand reviews