Description
It’s 1975 and Jo Nowd is escaping to Italy with a suitcase full of paints and a broken heart. Working-class, feisty and sometimes inarticulate, she entertains wild dreams of becoming a great artist and a woman of the world, showing people back home, especially ex-flame Eamonn, exactly what she’s capable of.
Jo’s soul yearns for something deeper and her passionate love for the medieval art of Sienna leads her on a journey of discovery and a year of unexpected revelations.
Deceptively simple, yet profound and funny, A Wiser Girl is an original and fascinating read.
‘Dubliner Jo Nowd leaps off the page. Irreverent, incorrigible, intense, she plunges into a new life in Italy with a newly broken heart. But don’t be fooled by Moya Roddy’s breezy style or mistake a wiser girl for just another coming-of-age story. Through Jo’s journey from sitting for an artist to becoming one, Moya Roddy delves into life’s great paradoxes – body versus soul, art versus action, sex versus love, happiness versus authenticity. Her writing is full of verve, wit and compassion. This is Normal People for a different generation.’
Mary Morrissy, author of Prosperity Drive
‘A Wiser Girl, delivered with sparkling humour by Moya Roddy, is the story of heartbroken, Irish would-be artist Jo, who hurtles headlong into the sensual delights of Italy as she tries to find new, better ways to be in the world. A funny, fast-paced delight.’
Nuala O’Connor, author of Becoming Belle