Catherine Conlon

Mary Phelan

The Year We Grew Up - Tender, Funny and Revealing Letters from 1980s Ireland

In 1983 in a south Tipperary town two 18-year-olds take a tentative step into the future: Mary to study accountancy, Cathy to become an au pair in Brittany. For the following year they exchange long gossipy letters.<br/>
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Their letters are touching, funny, tender and gutsy, showing them sustaining a friendship across the miles, starting to grow up and to realise that the world is a more complex, challenging and exciting place than they had imagined.<br/>
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The letters also capture an era - the time of Kajagoogoo, Culture Club, Dynasty and Ronald Reagan - with charm, humour, pathos and a sense of wonderment about the future.

Dear Cathy ... Love, Mary

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