Watch And Pray… It’s Alright

The Teacher At Donegal Bay by Anne Doughty is a poignant novel about love, life and loss. It is bittersweet as the reader follows a life that has been stifled.

The novel is set in Belfast in 1968 at the beginning of the troubles. Some characters are all inclusive. They see the person and not the religious label. Others are blinkered at best, filled with hate at worst.

A family is at the heart of the novel as we follow a twenty six year old married teacher. We hear her hopes and dreams and follow her interactions with her family and friends. A woman at this time was meant to marry and have children. If she did not, then questions were asked. It seemed incredible that a woman might actually want and like a career.