| Bookshelf - Life saga through the
centuries  Following
the critically-acclaimed success of Dublin, this riveting sequel takes
the story of Ireland from the 17th century onwards.
Ireland Awakening picks up where the former left off — at the Reformation
and with it the devastating arrival of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell heralds
the inauguration of 200 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 20th century’s
Easter Rising and Independence, passing through turbulent milestones such
as The Year of the French and The Home Rule Movement of Parnell along
the way.
But literature does not entirely give way to history; the emergence of
the Celtic Dawn and the timeless worlds of W.B. Yeats and James Joyce
also enter the story in unexpected ways and bring this powerful saga to
its conclusion.
Ireland Awakening by Edward Rutherford is published by Century, £17.99.
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