The Rising of Bella Casey

From a piano abandoned on the strife-torn streets of Dublin in Easter 1916, Mary Morissy spins the reader backwards through the life of one-time enigmatic beauty Bella Casey, sister to the famed playwright Sean O’Casey. An ambitious novel about love, history and literature. From a piano abandoned on the strife-torn streets of Dublin at Easter 1916, Mary Morrissy spins the reader backwards through the life of enigmatic beauty Bella Casey, sister of the famed playwright Seán O’Casey. The real and imagined are entwined in a haunting and deeply affecting novel of sexual secrets, obsession and desires. 'a wonderful book from one of our finest writers' Colum McCann Bella is a bright, clever girl who trains as a school teacher, determined to escape the limitations of her genteel impoverishment and become a “mistress of her own life”. However, the manager of her school, the Rev Archibald Leeper, a married clergyman, develops a morbid attachment to her, which is to colour the rest of her life. Leeper places Bella in an untenable position; her only escape is to seduce a young army corporal, Nicholas Beaver, to hide the fact that her reputation has been ruined by the clergyman. She marries Nicholas and they have five children. However, when Nicholas dies at the age of 40 from syphilis, Bella realizes belatedly that she is not the only one who has been keeping sexual secrets. Bella Casey was the sister of the playwright, Sean O’Casey. Tellingly, though, her brother chose to kill her off prematurely in his autobiography – at least 10 years before her actual demise.

From a piano abandoned on the strife-torn streets of Dublin at Easter 1916, Mary Morrissy spins the reader backwards through the life of enigmatic beauty Bella Casey, sister of the famed playwright Seán O'Casey. The real and imagined are entwined in a haunting and deeply affecting novel of sexual secrets, obsession and desires. Content warning: Contains some violence and/or strong language.