Reviews

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."