Valley Forge-raised novelist and poet Una Mannion’s novels are an homage to the Philadelphia region. Despite living in Ireland for decades after her pilgrimage across the pond, Mannion was inspired to write about her hometown, writes Maggie Lange for The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

Her latest novel, Tell Me What I Am, follows a young girl who is forced to move from Philadelphia to Vermont, often giving references to Philly-specific cultural relics, such as water ice.  

In 2021, her novel A Crooked Tree, follows a family in Valley Forge. It’s reminiscent of the teen years she spent working at King of Prussia mall. But what is pertinent to the novels is capturing the “Philadelphia voice.” 

Mannion recalls the large and loud household she grew up in of eight people, and the stark difference between taking New Jersey Transit and SEPTA.  

“People are talking and people are voicing opinions, even when it’s not invited. I always think, Oh, I’m home. I feel like something’s quite raw and generous in the Philadelphia persona,” she says.  

Read more about the Valley Forge-raised novelist in The Philadelphia Inquirer.  

More about Una Mannion.