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Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
The Transformation of Bitty Brown is a Christian historical novella written by Joy Ross Davis. Bitty has been living on the streets of Dungarran since she ran away from the Sisters of Mercy Orphanage in Dublin, more infamously known as the Laundry, over a year ago. She had grown up in the orphanage and, inconsolable after seeing her mother put on a ship bound for shores unknown, had gradually lost the power of speech after punishing treatments of scalding hot water scarred her throat and withered her spirit. When she became a young woman, the sisters told her that she could no longer have Sunday as her one day of rest from her labors in the laundry. They had decided that she was too old to be dependent upon their mercy any longer and would be trained as a housekeeper. Bitty knew what happened to girls who were sent away. She had heard the whispered words of the nuns as they discussed the deaths at sea of her two closest friends. Bitty determined that she would not wait for them to send her to her death; she’d rather take her chances on the street. And she had survived so far, but the orphanage dress she wore was in tatters, she had no shoes on her feet, and the cold seemed more bitter and penetrating than ever before.
Joy Ross Davis’ historical novella, The Transformation of Bitty Brown, is a lovely and haunting story about redemption and survival as the reader sees the transformation of Bitty. This is a beautifully written and meticulously researched historical tale that brings the 1950s and the hardships of life in Ireland at that time to life, as well as exposing the repercussions of the scandals that rocked the Catholic Church in light of the harsh and brutal treatment the Sisters inflicted upon their helpless charges. I was transfigured reading this story; it’s a compelling and mesmerizing work that is filled with light, nature and some of the most unforgettable characters I’ve come across. The Transformation of Bitty Brown is most highly recommended.
