Maureen O'Carroll

Book excerpt: Maureen O'Carroll vividly brings to life growing up in a large, quirky but ambitious Irish immigrant family, as seen through the eyes of middle child Maureen. After years of periodic imprisonment in Ireland for their fight for independence, Maureen's parents immigrated to Sydney, Australia where they raised ten children during the Depression and war time. The patriarch, John O'Carroll, sets up in the storefront of their Balmain terrace house a barbershop, The Anchor Hairdressing Salon, which becomes a hub of activity for the locals. Throughout this colorful memoir infused with Irish history, local politics, Catholicism and the humorous struggles of Depression-era life, music remains a vital theme; It is instrumental in all ten O'Carroll children overcoming their hard circumstances to achieve a better life.