Overview

A powerful and gripping novel about love, loyalty and obsession set during WWI and the Irish War of Independence. 'Ciaran McMenamin confirms his exceptional talent with this admirably powerful and authentic novel about the First World War and the struggle for Irish independence. Tremendous' William Boyd Longlisted for the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Annie, Francie and Archie were inseparable growing up, but in 1914 the boys are seduced by the drama of the Great War. Before leaving their small Irish village for the trenches, Francie promises his true love Annie that he will bring her little brother home safe. Six years later Francie is on the run, a wanted man in the Irish war of Independence. He needs Annie's help to escape safely across the border, but that means confronting the truth about why Archie never came back.... For readers of Sebastian Faulks, Ian McEwan and Sebastian Barry

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9781529112221

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Reviews

[A] violent and tender story where memorable characters battle love, loyalty and the terrible truths of war -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail * Excellent, gripping...a powerful reflection on complex loyalties, divisions and identities, a romantic drama and a page-turning thriller * Irish Times * Ambitious and powerful...superbly drawn...McMenamin's ambitious novel scores big * Sunday Times * There is a smooth grace to his prose...The tension between the compulsions of history and circumstance, and personal moral choice, are played out compellingly * Irish Independent * McMenamin writes with verve and honesty * Irish Times *

Ambitious and powerful...superbly drawn...a stirring novel broad in location and historical sweep...within a tradition that includes O'Connor, Liam O'Flaherty, Sebastian Barry and Frank McGuinness... Paramount in this tradition is the need to expose the big lies, to help us to see the conflict with fresh eyes - and on all of these counts, McMenamin's ambitious novel scores big * Sunday Times * Ciaran McMenamin confirms his exceptional talent with this admirably powerful and authentic novel about the First World War and the struggle for Irish independence. Tremendous. * William Boyd * [A] violent and tender story where memorable characters battle love, loyalty and the terrible truths of war -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail * Excellent, gripping...a powerful reflection on complex loyalties, divisions and identities, a romantic drama and a page-turning thriller * Irish Times * There is a smooth grace to his prose, and, though it's an historical novel, it's written in a modern style, jumping between past and present timelines in a way that feels immediate and filmic...The tension between the compulsions of history and circumstance, and personal moral choice, are played out compellingly * Irish Independent *

A powerful reflection on complex Irish loyalties, divisions and identities, a romantic drama, and a page-turning thriller. * Irish Times * Ambitious and powerful...superbly drawn...McMenamin's ambitious novel scores big * Sunday Times * [A] violent and tender story where memorable characters battle love, loyalty and the terrible truths of war -- Eithne Farry * Daily Mail * There is a smooth grace to his prose...The tension between the compulsions of history and circumstance, and personal moral choice, are played out compellingly * Irish Independent * Ciaran McMenamin confirms his exceptional talent with this admirably powerful and authentic novel about the First World War and the struggle for Irish independence. Tremendous. * William Boyd * This gripping novel shifts between [the] race to the south and a slow reveal of what happened between the three men on the Western Front...McMenamin never puts a foot wrong, expertly interweaving the historical and the imagined, right up to his masterly denouement * Hot Press *

Author Information

Ciaran McMenamin was born in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, in 1975. A graduate of the RSAMD, he has worked extensively for the past twenty years as an actor in film, television and theatre. His acclaimed first novel, Skintown, was a WHSmith Fresh Talent pick.

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