The Secret Scripture: Sebastian Barry

I actually had never heard of this book and came across the Movie, which struck a chord in me like Gone With the wind and The Thornbirds. The movie was powerful because of the depth of desire in the characters, I searched out the book and read it in two days assuming it would be even more powerful than the movie...but it was basically a different story, the only thing remaining the same was the woman was in a mental institution and her son was her doctor. I don't understand why everything was changed so much. The story takes place during the Irish Civil war. A girl of about 12, Rose, is sitting with her father, the undertaker at Father Gaunt's church, when 3 boys bring in a dead boy, who is on of their brothers. Rose is told to fetch Father Gaunt, who is upset because he doesn't know what to do. Then some soldiers barge in and take the boys, who believe Rose ratted them out. When Rose is 16, her mother goes insane and her father is killed, but she repressed what happened and believes he committed suicide. Father Gaunt comes to her with a proposition that she marry Mr Brady, who took over her father's job before he was demoted to rat catcher and is about 50 yrs old. Rose refuses. Rose finds work with a Quaker woman who owns the Café Cairo and she meets and falls in love with a musician, Tom, whose Parents both work at the insane asylum. He has 2 brothers, who both evidently love her. One of the boys from the night in the cemetery shows up and for a reason unknown to her, she meets him- thinking she could reminisce about her dad since he knew him. He tells her he is going to have his son, who is 15 watch over her. Father Gaunts comes upon them talking and assumes she was having relations with him. Father Gaunt and Tom's brother Jack null Tom's marriage and she never sees him again. She lives in a tin shed for a while and one day Tom's brother Eneas shows up and they have sex, Rose conceives, but never sees him again. She goes to Tom's parents when she is ready to have the baby, but they turn her out and later put her in the asylum. Rose gives birth on the walk home and when she awakens, cannot find the baby. The Doctor realizes the man who took the baby(himself) and put him in the orphanage is the janitor and the Rebel's son who was sent to watch over her. After watching the movie, the book seems sort of hollow with minimal character development.