"When she was a young woman, Roseanne McNulty was one of the most beautiful and beguiling girls in County Sligo, Ireland. Now, as her hundredth year draws near, she is a patient at Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital, and she decides to record the events of her life. As Roseanne revisits her past, hiding the manuscript beneath the floorboards of her bedroom, she learns that Roscommon Hospital will be closed in a few months and that her caregiver, Dr. Greene, has been asked to evaluate the patients to decide if they can return to society. Roseanne is of particular interest to Dr. Greene, and as he researchers her case he discovers a document written by a local priest that tells a very different story of Roseanne's life from what she recalls. As doctor and patient attempt to understand each other, they begin to uncover long-buried secrets about themselves. Set against an Ireland besieged by conflict, The Secret Scripture is an epic story of love, betrayal and unavoidable tragedy, and a vivid reminder of the strangle-hold that the Catholic Church had on individual lives throughout much of the twentieth century"