After The Rising (The Irish Trilogy) - Softcover

Book 1 of 2: The Irish Trilogy

Ross, Orna

9780954875640: After The Rising (The Irish Trilogy)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0954875648 ISBN 13: 9780954875640

Publisher: Font Publications, 2012

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"One is immersed in this epic story immediately and effortlessly… The main characters are so well-drawn that you feel you have heard about them in your own life."

A death in the present—a killing in the past.

After twenty years away, Jo Devereux flies home to Ireland for her mother's funeral -- the mother she hasn't spoken to for more than two decades.

Every minute there reminds her of all the reasons she left and she has no desire to reacquaint herself with her home village. Or with Rory O'Donovan, the only man she ever loved.

Then, she reads her mother's will.
Her inheritance is a chest full of letters and journals, written by her grandmother and great-aunt. In them, Jo discovers a legacy of poison and hatred that has laid waste to the lives of four generations of women.

It began with a simple yearning for Irish Freedom that exploded into a horrific and bloody civil war. Neighbor turned against neighbor, brother against brother, daughters against fathers, family against family-- leaving a legacy of lies, deceit, and murder.

As Jo unearths the bitter, buried history she shares with Rory...
...it is clear their love was doomed from the start.

Can she stay true to both her heart and her heritage?
Or will she endure the same fate as all the women in her family?

After The Rising is a sweeping, multigenerational tale set in the 1920s and 1990s Ireland and 1980s San Francisco. It is the first book in The Irish Trilogy, followed by Before the Fall

This is perfect for fans of Barbara Erskine, MJ Lee or Anne Griffin.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review

SUNDAY INDEPENDENT: "One is immersed in this epic story immediately and effortlessly... The main characters are so well-drawn that you feel you have heard about them in your own life. The novel's strength is that it puts culpable, fragile flesh and blood - lots of blood - on a defining moment in Irish history... Of particular delight are the many unexpected twists and turns. When you think you've figured out the secrets, you may have got it all wrong. Orna Ross has written a highly ambitious, engaging and evocative novel and a hauntingly captivating read."

IRISH INDEPENDENT: "This debut novel from Orna Ross [is] the sort of massive book you could happily curl up with for the entire winter, an impressive canvas interweaving a contemporary story of love, emigration and loss with the complex world of civil war politics, emerging women's rights and buried secrets. It explores the influence of our families on who we later become, in literary, lyrical language, while still being a captivating read."

EVENING HERALD: "The writer is tackling a central theme - and one that's been sleeping quietly since the Irish State's foundation: the ideals and ideas of that time and how they affect the very different Ireland of today. The story-within-a-story - desire, hatred, love and a killing in the Civil War - is loosely based on a Wexford murder of the time and ... is a gripping story. Interweaving past and present and making them strike fire off each other... [the writer] has made brilliant use of original sources, including local historians in Wexford, adding the icing on the cake."

MORE REVIEWS: SUNDAY TRIBUNE: "Epic sweep...ambitious scope... an intelligent book". EMIGRANT ONLINE: "A riveting story...vividly brought to life." BIBLIOFEMME: "An incredible literary debut that will have the reader absolutely enthralled." THEBOOKBAG.CO.UK: "I couldn't put it down." AMAZON.COM: "Orna Ross has written a masterpiece and in this age of exaggeration and hyperbole I hope I can convey just how exceptional is her book."