When the current recession first loomed just over two years ago, the general consensus by those of a certain age was that it was nothing compared to the dark days of the 70s and 80s. Whether this consensus still holds credence or not is somewhat irrelevant but it does point to the fact that emigration, unemployment, ineffective public services, inept politicians and difficult times have been with us before and will be again, and whether the recession suffered by the country between 1974 and 1990 was tougher that what we are undergoing today is a moot point.

Many years ago a young woman, to whom I sent packages of Irish poetry book every other month, sat in my office and requested that I send her no more poetry written by women. Somewhat taken aback by the request, I asked why to which she replied: “Because they are not romantic enough”

Taking us from the harsh realities of Baile Crua to the cautious serenity of the Spiddle bogs, Hurting God is a short but intense spiritual autobiography.

Starting with the sentence “The changes are going to be great in Baile Crua”, Rita Anne Higgins immediately and without apology sets out her stall in her normal uncompromising fashion and if Mary Coughlan’s “Delaney is Back on the Wine” was our introduction to the Shantalla Blues, Rita Anne’s Goddess on the bus to Eyre Square could well be the anthem of the Mervue Blues.

Inside the cover of a 2006 paperback edition of the book the blurb reads:

“Harper Lee was born in 1926 in Monroeville, Alabama, a village that is still her home. She attended local schools and the University of Alabama. Before she started writing she lived in New York where she worked in the reservations department of an international airline. She has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize, two honorary degrees and various other literary and library awards. Her chief interests apart from writing are nineteenth-century literature and eighteenth-century music, watching politicians and cats, travelling and being alone”.