Ireland : A Novel
Author(s): Frank Delaney
“Dramatic, adventurous, heroic, romantic. . . these historical chronicles, legends, myths, tall tales and fables, featuring warriors, kings, monks, explorers and clever common folk, imaginatively tell the history of Ireland.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
This New York Times bestselling epic is an unforgettable tour de force that marries the intimate, passionate texture of the Irish spirit with a historical scope that is sweeping and resplendent. Storyteller extraordinaire Frank Delaney takes his readers on a journey through the history of Ireland, stopping along the way to evoke the dramatic events and personalities so critical to shaping the Irish experience.
In the winter of 1951, a storyteller, the last practitioner of an honored, centuries-old tradition, arrives at the home of nine-year-old Ronan O'Mara in the Irish countryside. For three wonderful evenings, the old gentleman enthralls his assembled local audience with narratives of foolish kings, fabled saints, and Ireland's enduring accomplishments before moving on. But these nights change young Ronan forever, setting him on a years-long pursuit of the elusive, itinerant storyteller and the glorious tales that are no less than the saga of his tenacious and extraordinary isle.
Review(s):
“History, legend, memory and myth come seamlessly together in Frank Delaney’s wonderfully engaging new novel, IRELAND, an intimate epic that is at once a sprawling account of 2,000 years of tumultuous Irish history and a meditation on the enduring importance of stories.”
“An epic novel of history and storytelling.”
“Delaney gracefully collects essential myths—and invents a few, too—in his heartfelt ode to the oral tradition.”
“Dramatic, adventurous, heroic, romantic, slyly comic, these historical chronicles, legends, myths, tall tales and fables, featuring warriors, kings, monks, explorers and clever common folk, imaginatively tell the history of Ireland.”
“Epic. . . . Combines Irish history with the fictional tale of a Senchai, a wandering storyteller who enchants a family with stories of Ireland and its people.”
“In the end, IRELAND is, as the Irish themselves are fond of saying about everything from cabbage to castles, brilliant.”
“IRELAND touches the heart and moves the soul.”
“A sweeping saga of Ireland.”
“Extraordinary … mixes history and fiction in an epic narrative that traces the entire history of [the] country. Delaney is such a fabulous storyteller.”
“Warm, intelligent, and unapologetically nostalgic ... Delaney is as much in love with the art of storytelling as he is the story’s subject.”
ISBN: 9780061244438