Angels in my Hair

I FOUND this book extremely frustrating to read. Apart from my scepticism of the subject matter, I found it repetitive, simplistic and gushing.

But I was intrigued by Lorna Byrne, who was diagnosed as ‘retarded’ by her doctor when she was aged two, although, in a Youtube clip, Lorna seemed articulate and ‘normal’ to me.

According to her story (which she dictated to a computer, because she still struggles with reading and writing), Lorna was an isolated child.

She rarely mentions her siblings, except for Christopher, who died as a baby, and whose spirit appears regularly. Angels also constantly appear to her, helping her through minor situations. They show her a vision of Joe, the man she will marry, telling her he will not live long.

There is little sense of other influences in her life, although, interestingly, her grandmother tells her the spirits won’t harm her, as though she senses that Lorna can see them.

We hear about the collapse of a roof, which forces a move.

Lorna describes working in a garage with her father and meeting Joe. Her mother later engineers a job for her in a department store – although, of course, the angels were instrumental. But these glimpses are swamped by constant angelic appearances, which seem vastly more real to her than anyone in her earthly life. Souls of babies appear. Everyone has a guardian angel she tells us. (What – even Hitler? Mugabe?)

When Lorna’s father invites her and Joe to join a prayer group in Maynooth, she tells people what the angels want her to pass on. People start coming to her for guidance.

My sense is that she is indeed ‘away with the fairies’ and through the Angels, she has found a way to have purpose in the earthly world. The book left many unanswered questions and hasn’t convinced me at all. Still, naturally it’s a bestseller, because wouldn’t we all love to be seeing angels?