It is
the spring of 1968 in Belfast, Northern Ireland and
James Kirkpatrick has just lost his father under
suspicious circumstances, Casey Riordan is released from
prison after five years and Pamela O’Flaherty has
crossed an ocean and a lifetime of memories to find the
man she fell in love with as a little girl. All three
lives are on a collision course with each other against
the backdrop of the burgeoning civil rights movement and
a nation on the brink of revolution.
They
come from disparate backgrounds- Jamie a wealthy
industrialist whose life is like an imperfect but many
faceted jewel- brilliant, flawed and with a glitter that
is designed to distract the observer. Casey- a card
carrying member of the Irish Republican Army, who must
face the fact that five years away has left him a
stranger, a misfit in his own neighbourhood where not
everyone is sympathetic to a convicted rebel. Pamela-
who has come to Ireland in search of a memory and a man
who may not have existed in the first place.
Through
it all runs the ribbon of a love story; love of country,
the beginning love of two people unable to resist the
pull of each another regardless of the cost to
themselves and those around them and the selfless love
of one man who no longer believes himself capable of
such emotion.
Ultimately
this is the story of Ireland herself, of how nation is
bound to one’s identity, woven into the weft of all we
become. And whether, finally, freedom and peace can walk
down the same road, hand in hand.
"A
deftly woven novel of human growth and change"
June 3, 2002
…This
story brings the Irish Troubles to life, full-throttle
and technicolor. Along the way Brandner weaves in vital
historical background, luscious descriptive passages and
a love story that will leave you breathless.
