The Chisellers by Brendan O’Carroll Review

Mrs Browne Trilogy, Book #2

Chisellers

The Chisellers is the second book of the Mrs Browne trilogy by Brendan O’Carroll (this trilogy is the inspiration behind the very successful TV series Mrs Brown’s Boys). This series of books is based on the character Agnes Browne, a struggling mum of 7 in Dublin, Ireland.

This book continues 3 years later (in 1970) than The Mammy (the first book in the trilogy) and Agnes Browne and her children are being forced to move from their home in Jarro, Dublin to a new housing estate in the country. It focuses more on her children (known as chisellers) this time, from Mark, the eldest, who is on his way to owning his own business building furniture right down to Trevor, the youngest, who is considered by his school as a “national treasure” with his artistic skills. And then there is the black sheep of the family, Frankie, who gets involved with skinheads, drugs and gangsters.

Overall, as with the first book, this is a well-written story where the characters come to life on the page. It is filled with humour that will have you laughing and unable to put the book down. For example, when the Browne’s moved to their new house they had a new fridge which they used for storage of bread and such, but it was 3 months before Agnes realised that she had to actually plug it in!

Without giving too much away this is a fun story with the message remaining the same, always look out for your family – if you mess with one child of Agnes Browne, you mess with them all.

While the television series Mrs Brown’s Boys is inspired by the characters in these books, the books are not as slapstick or silly. They are so much better and much more realistic.

I highly recommend reading this trilogy of books, they will have you engrossed right from the start to the very last page.

The Chisellers is an absolutely fun read.

Rating: 5/5

RRP: £8.99 (Paperback) / £5.99 (Kindle)

Available to buy from Amazon here.

DISCLOSURE: I was provided with a free copy of this book for the purposes of writing a honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.

Click here to read more reviews of books by Brendan O’Carroll