I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is historical fiction at its best. The story is based in early 20th century Dublin, leading up to the Easter Rising of 1916. The plot intermingles real historical protagonists like Pádraig Pearse, Tom Clarke, Seán Mac Diarmada, James Connolly, etc. with a small set of fictitious characters to tell a story of patriotism and love set against a backdrop of real events; the history is accurate and the fiction is engaging and plays seamlessly. The author also annotates historical events and quotations and includes a bibliography and a brief bio of the historical characters. Even the dialect is accurate; I had to smile when I read a passage describing a local giving directions; “Go up the road to the first right but don’t take that”; exactly how an Irishman would give directions!

This book provides a highly enjoyable way to learn a little about early 1900’s Irish history, albeit Dublin-centric. Highly recommended! ( )

Solid tale of the rebellious and indomitable spirit of an oppressed people. While their efforts did not yield the results they wanted, the events that led to the Easter Rising, the Rising itself, and Britain's reaction to it were critical in Ireland's long fight for independence.
Notable spots:
p 241 pp 2
p 256 pp 7
p 268 pp 6
p 309 pp 7
p 331 pp 1 ( )

The 1916 Easter rebellion in Dublin Ireland is such a tragic party of their history. The story of that week long rebellion is told through the eyes of a fictional character, but he meets up with truly amazing people along the way. People who truly existed, and were responsible for planning and carrying out the rebellion. Talented and brave people who wrote poetry, published their own patriotic newspapers, organized laborers, and wanted nothing more than to run their own country. This is an excellent book. It is well written, full of accurate detail and never boring. ( )

I found this novel to be a curious mixture of history and romance but it was enjoyable nevertheless. I had heard about the Easter uprising when I was in Ireland. You can't miss all the memorials and plaques about the event. However, I did not know much about the characters of the leaders and this book fills in the pieces wonderfully. The Commander-in Chief, Padraic Pearse, was a school teacher by trade and a poet by avocation. In fact, three of the top people were poets and the rebellion is referred to in the book as a poets' rebellion. From what I can tell by surfing the net, the historical details in the book are accurate. In fact, there are even footnotes to show the author's sources. My advice would be to ignore the footnotes as they just served to interrupt the narrative flow.

There are actually two romances between fictitious people. One is resolved nicely by the end of the book (I can't say too much more for fear of spoiling the ending) but one is left hanging and I guess you will have to use your imagination.

I found it hard sometimes to keep track of all the historical figures mentioned throughout the book and the list at the front is helpful. Also helpful are the two maps which show Dublin and the countryside as it was in Easter 1916.

Anyone who is curious about Irish history should enjoy this book. If you want to see a movie that shows how Ireland finally achieves independence, Michael Collins, is a very powerful movie. ( )

This book is highly readable for its size and manages to cram in a great deal of information about the events leading up to and immediately following the 1916 Easter Rising in Dublin. It is told through the eyes of Ned Halloran, a survivor of the Titanic disaster who is given a place at a boarding school in Dublin and grows to be a stalwart part of the movement. The novel also provides glimpses of life in America for Irish expatriates in the form of Ned's sister, Kathleen, who has married an Irish-American but who has become disenchanted with her lot, especially when she reads Ned's glowing letters about the deeds of the Irish republicans.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It contained a lot of historical information and even had endnotes scattered throughout. Some of the dialogue felt a bit expository or info-dumpy, but the action being shown and told was enough to keep me flipping the pages quickly. The chapters were of manageable length, and changes in perspective were handled well, with the Rising taking centre stage by the end of the book. It was interesting to read this book after having visited Dublin (and being able to picture the GPO) and after watching Michael Collins (Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman showed up as Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera, respectively). My internal casting agent also got Dermot Morgan to play Father Paul O'Shaugnessy, Kathleen's parish priest who ends up in Ireland and gets caught up in the Rising. The only thing I really didn't like were the occasional sex scenes. They went into too much anatomical detail and felt like a distraction from the important parts of the story. I was reading this for Irish history, not titillation!

Despite my reservations about certain scenes and the occasional history-textbook feel of some of the dialogue, I will be continuing with the next book in the series, which is set in and titled 1921. ( )