The Fallen

Compelling, measured and deeply felt; Brangan cuts through shame and fable to tell the truth about the ‘inconvenient' women whose lives were stolen by the Magdalene Laundries. Indispensable.

Anne Enright

A terrific yet harrowing unearthing of Ireland's shadowland. I thought I knew about the Magdalene Laundries. I was wrong. Brangan's chronicle is limpid, eloquent and devastating. A landmark book.

Rory Carroll

Breaking silence is a catalyst for change and the lived experiences of survivors in this book demand a reckoning, challenging us to ask ourselves what systemic injustices we are normalising to this day.

Caelainn Hogan

Critical, informed and beautifully written, The Fallen makes the case for a genuinely transformative response to Ireland's histories of religious incarceration

Máiréad Enright

A wrenching reminder that human injustice repeats in the dark corners of human history—and a call to remain attentive

Kirkus

A searing account ... Enraging ... a detailed, thoroughgoing ... superb if horrifying testament

John Banville, Guardian

Louise Brangan takes our hazy ideas of such institutions and replaces them with the stark reality ... Brangan’s remarkable book, thrumming with rage and harrowing to read, is a monument to [the] women and their suffering

Laura Hackett, Sunday Times

Engrossing … it feels part novel … [Brangan] is an accomplished communicator, the reader feels like they are accompanying her as she burrows into the conditions of the soil from which the laundries grew … This meticulously researched book … helps us see more clearly.

Mary McCarthy, Irish Independent

powerful ... authoritative, quietly passionate account ... [a] fine narrative

Bel Mooney, Mail on Sunday

Vivid ... The Fallen is a highly readable and intelligently engaging account of this systemic injustice [of the Magdalene laundries], and it should prompt a wider reflection both inside and beyond Ireland on the ways in which societies can become inured to the evil all around them.

Fintan O'Toole, Times Literary Supplement

An extraordinary gift ... Within the first 15 pages of The Fallen, this book was inviting me to rethink this history, revealing these institutions and the vexed history of our country in a way I’ve never encountered. My heart was racing as I read the rest (believe it or not, this book is both an education and a page-turner). I am in awe of its meticulous scholarship, and the compelling clarity and courage of the writing. How I wish that it could be studied in every Irish school. Brava, Louise Brangan — I hope I get to meet you someday, to thank you in person for writing this powerful, urgent book.

Doireann Ní Ghríofa

A devastating read ... Brangan’s book forensically charts the history of the laundries through the stories of several women ... It is an account of a near century of unfathomable cruelty, the threat of populist ideology, and the danger of silence and compliance, all made more astounding for its recency.

Sarah Carson

A forensic ... detailed and haunting history ... Reading The Fallen, even given all that I already knew of the Magdalene Laundries, the toxic mix of piousness and relentless cruelty became even harder to fathom.

Seán O’Hagan, Observer