SilverWood Books Ltd A Hard Place
18 ratings
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Price: £10.99
Brand: SilverWood Books Ltd
Description: David Mc Master, a burned out, retired lecturer, returns to Belfast on discovering a cryptic, posthumous note from his friend Roddy, whom he last saw in Northern Ireland 40 years previously. In 1965, David, then a high-flying Oxford graduate, is recruited by Sir John Lockwood to help him look for a site for a new university in Ulster. But what seems like an interesting assignment turns into a tragedy not only for David but also for Catherine, the woman he falls in love with. The sectarian forces which would later tear Northern Ireland apart, are destined to destroy the relationship of the two lovers, with terrible consequences for them both. SilverWood Books Ltd A Hard Place - shop the best deal online on thebookbug.co.uk
Category: Books
Merchant: Waterstones
Product ID: 9781800422452
Delivery cost: 2.99
ISBN: 9781800422452
Author: Paul M.M. Cooper
Rating: 5
Review: "Belfast is a city full of secrets..." A moving story of memory and place, love and loss, set in the Belfast of the 1960s, lovingly evoked in every detail. The characters each pop off the page, and the city itself comes to life in a complex overlayering of history and colour that makes you feel like you're there. It was a part of Irish history I knew nothing about, and Kelly shows you how it felt to be there in a measured and assured style. Couldn't put it down.
Author: Avid Reader
Rating: 5
Review: 'A Hard Place' is a masterly first novel. I couldn't put it down with it's marvellous mixture of humour, perceptiveness and passion. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it always held my attention. Importantly, it also taught me much about a period in the history of Northern Ireland of which I had understood so little. It did so by absorbing me completely in a tender and thoughtful love story set against the backdrop of developing political and social tension. Misunderstandings and misjudgements occur on all levels and Kelly observes all with wisdom and compassion. He is also passionate and biting in his condemnation of the shortsightedness, prejudice and sheer lack of understanding with which bureaucratic decisions were made and which did so much to precipitate division and unrest. And he does all this by engaging the reader with a wonderful cast of characters. They are funny, warm, passionate and full of life and human frailty. I really enjoyed their company and they tell this story so well. This is a terrific novel.
