Author

Mary Walsh has been a rabid fan of books since childhood, taking in as many as she could get her hands on and even at one time hosting a CBC Television show called Open Book where she discussed recently released or historically important books with celebrities and friends. But, until now, Mary had never written and published her own Novel. Crying For The Moon (Harper Collins Canada) comes out on April 18th.

In Crying For The Moon, Mary Walsh has created the unforgettable Maureen Brennan, a young woman coming of age in late 1960s St. John's, Newfoundland. There is no one like Maureen, the second youngest daughter of the Sarge, a mother so bitter, so angry about her fate that she bullies her children and her husband before anyone else has a chance to. Maureen's dad, once gorgeously young, is now a beaten-down man who tells his best stories when he is drunk.

School is torture, with the nuns watching every move she makes. Oh, but Maureen wants a bigger life. She wants to go to sexy, exciting Montreal and be part of Expo 67, even if it means faking her way into the school choir. Once there, Maureen escapes the vigilant eye of Sister Imobilis and sneaks out into the city where, over the course of a few hours, and after a series of breathtakingly bad decisions, she changes the course of her life forever.

All Maureen really wanted was to get her life going. Even now, with everyone and everything against her, Maureen has one thing that nobody can take away: she is the indomitable Maureen—a young woman who is so much more than anyone thinks.

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Here’s a note Mary posted on Facebook days before the books release:

“Hey my book
Crying for the moon
Coming out April 18th
It's a novel
I wanted to be a novelist
My whole life
When I was 12 my cousin Mary and I… practically everyone in my family is called Mary... even my big burly brother Kevin… Kevin Edward Mary Walsh
He took Mary as his confirmation name
Cause he had such a devotion to the blessed virgin… anyway my cousin Mary and I penned the never finished “Mae Woodbury and her adventures at school”
I wanted desperately to have done it… written a novel… but failed constantly to find the strength or the courage to do it… but now it's done… hurray”