As my regular readers will know, Christy Brown is one of my literary heroes. I purchased this ebook on Amazon while looking for some of his writings. It is written by a former English literature student who did her dissertation on his writing and later wrote this book. For those who haven’t heard of Christy Brown, he is a famous Dubliner who was born in the early 1930s. He had a severe form of cerebral palsy that left him entirely spastic in his limbs. Famously, he used his left foot to write, type and paint.

He is most famous novel was called “My Left Foot”, which later was adapted to a triple Academy Award winning film. It was an autobiographical account of his early life up to his early twenties. His greatest literary achievement however was called “Down All the Days”. Unfortunately, this latter work is still not available as an ebook so I haven’t read it.

It gives a great overview of his life and includes much poetry and other letters that had not previously made available to the public. You get an insight into what his life was like post “My Left Foot”, how his money helped support his mother and many siblings and some of the riotous drinking that Christy Brown did as well as the most important romantic relationships that he had.

The main romantic relationships that he had were with an American married woman called Beth Moore and his future wife Mary. Whereas his mother was the pivotal influence in his early life, these dominated the second half of his life for both better and worse.

Beth Moore started a correspondence with him after his book “My Left Foot” came out. It became romantic and she invited him to the United States to visit her. It then became sexual. From his writing perspective, she was a positive influence getting him to cut back on the drinking and concentrate more on the writing. It appears she played a crucial role in getting “Down All the Days” written. However, when it became a commercial success, he was loathe to give her any credit or any of of the spotlight. Perhaps, he was worried she might steal his glory. This issue or what could be construed as a betrayal was the death knell for their relationship. It had lasted many, many years by which time he had met his future wife.

Christy’s brother describes Mary as a lesbian prostitute. However, it’s clear that she would be more accurately described as a bisexual who at least occassionally had dabbled in prostitution. She was also an alcoholic just like himself. Christy quickly became infatuated with her and asked her to marry him. She agreed, after taking some time to think about it. They were married until his death. Together, he appears to have spiraled downwards. However, things were always going to be rough for the two alcoholics. He wrote little of note during their time together and Mary wasn’t as interested in his writing as Beth Moore had been.

The book also covers where the film came from. It was indeed based on his autobiography “My Left Foot”. Some extra scenes were added or invented, and that why I thought “Down All the Days” may have played a greater role. The film was made on a shoestring budget and was never expected to do so well. It made stars out of many of the actors including Daniel Day Lewis.

On reflection, what a great man Christy Brown was. Despite having a very severe disability with very little supports he became a renowned writer, poet and painter. He also financially supported his mother and siblings, and fulfilled his dream of marriage to a woman he loved till the end.