The Secret Scripture is a novel published recently in 2008 and written by Sebastian Barry. For this novel, Barry was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2008, one of the two times that he has received the honor. In addition, The Secret Scripture won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year.
Sebastian Barry is an Irish writer who specializes in plays, novels, and poems. His writing is well known not only in Ireland, but all throughout the world. Though he started off with plays and poems, Barry is more well known today for his novels, many of which have won other awards and honors.
The protagonist of The Secret Scripture is a lady named Roseanne McNulty, who is 100 years old and is in a mental hospital. Interestingly, she has been in the same hospital for over half her life, but she nevertheless decides to write her own autobiography to record her life and her parents’ life as she knows it. However, there is a second side to the story. As the doctors and administrators of the hospital dig deeper into their records, and Roseanne’s own writing, to determine what mental state she is in and what they will do with her, the reader also follows along on this journey.
The Secret Scripture was also adapted into a film released in 2016.
