by Frank De Laney (Author)
A mystery story of great emotional power, told in rich language and crackling dialogue.
Ann Halpin always believed she was born into the wrong family. The nouveau-riche values of her bookmaker father, Joss, and his name-dropping wife, Moya, disturb and embarrass her. To exact revenge for her `snobbery' they manoeuvre her into an abusive marriage with her father's brutish, wise-cracking business manager, Joey.
But at her wedding reception in February 1972, she is observed by an English journalist, Christopher Hunter, who is lunching at the hotel. He, a turbulent and withdrawn man, blooded in the savage intrigues of the Troubles, instantly falls in love with her. Thereafter, Christopher obsessively pursues his vision of possessing this beautiful and grave girl whom he has only glimpsed one bright winter day, though she does not even know he exists.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 400
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 07 Sep 1998
ISBN 10: 0002258080
ISBN 13: 9780002258081
`A powerful blend of romance and hard political fact.'
Mail on Sunday
`A compelling tale from a writer fully in control of his craft.'
Daily Mirror
`Two first-person narratives twisted together into a fat plait of a story. I kept turning the pages.'
Independent
`Powerfully realised... telling parallels between marital cruelty and sectarian violence.'
The Times
`A fast-moving story, embellished with such incident that it seems unimaginable that the next page could yield even more shocks.'
Irish Independent
`Complex, sharply observed. There is a magnificent twist in the tail, which brings the story rushing to a satisfying ending.'
Irish Times
`Has the poet's eye for an arresting image, as well as a clear understanding of the psychology of loneliness, of fear, of jealousy.'
Magill Magazine
Novelist, broadcaster and freelance journalist Frank Delaney was born in the south of Ireland in 1942. His radio programmes have included Bookshelf and the language series Word of Mouth on Radio 4. He regularly appears on TV, having made arts and history documentaries for the BBC, including The Celts, and features in the Book Show on Sky News.