O’Leary House, by Maureen Ellen O’Leary

A Sow’s Ear and A Silk Purse

When Maureen Ellen O’Leary finally breaks the silence surrounding her family’s years in The Place That Shall Not Be Named, she finds more than the shame she once carried. In the crowded rooms and lively courtyards of Huron Place, treasure sat alongside skeletons in the family closet.

O’Leary House: A Sow’s Ear and a Silk Purse returns to public housing in Massachusetts in the mid-1950s and early ’60s, where trouble and worry were part of daily life—but so were exuberance, mischief, music, neighborhood loyalty, and fun. With lively, graceful prose, O’Leary tells not only her own family’s story, but the stories of the neighbors who helped make that childhood unforgettable.

Tender, funny, and clear-eyed, this memoir reveals life “in the projects” as both sow’s ear and silk purse: a place of hardship, belonging, and stories well worth telling.