This great Irish epic, the second and concluding part which began with Dublin, reveals the story of the people of Ireland through the focal point of the island's capital city. Rutherfurd is a fantastic storyteller who has created some utterly compelling characters that really bring you into the story and that fit seamlessly into the immensely detailed and authentic historical background. The book is long, yet hugely accessible and it certainly rattles along at quite a lick.
Following the critically acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards. Ireland: Awakenings picks up where the former left off – at the Reformation, and with it, the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds the inauguration of two hundred years of Protestant dominance, throughout which many of the Irish people were impoverished and dispossessed.Dublin is made a Protestant capital, and Catholics become an underclass.
Set against the dramatic backdrop of Irish political history, the novel revisits family dynasties such as the Walshes and the Doyles, whose epic voyages through the centuries continue right the way up to the twentieth century’s Easter Rising and Independence, passing through turbulent milestones such as The Year of the French and The Independence Movement of Parnell along the way. But literature does not entirely give way to history; the encroaching of the Celtic Dawn and the timeless worlds of W.B. Yeats and James Joyce are also paid rich tribute to, and bring this powerful saga to its conclusion.
"Edward Rutherfurd has written about Dublin with love. It is an expertly researched and highly readable account of a place he has grown to know well" Maeve Binchy, Ireland on Sunday
"The author writes with a charm and an authority that comes from considerable research. This is a really handsome book" Irish Independent
Author
About Edward Rutherfurd
Edward Rutherfurd was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, and educated at Cambridge University and Stanford University in California. His first book, Sarum was based on the history of Salisbury. London, Russka. and The Forest, all draw on finely researched details of social history. Edward Rutherfurd previously lived in London and New York City but has had a home in Dublin for more than twelve years. He has two children.
