Now and in the Hour of Our Death: A Novel of the Irish Troubles
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Patrick Taylor's Now and in the Hour of Our Death is a moving and compelling portrait of ordinary men and women caught up in a conflict not of their making, and of the way the past holds onto us even as we try to move on into an uncertain future.
Nine years ago, the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland tore apart two young lovers, consuming their hopes and dreams and changing their lives forever. Now, in 1983, Davy McCutcheon and Fiona Kavanagh find themselves worlds apart.
Davy, once a bomb-maker for the Provisional IRA, is serving a twenty-five-year sentence in a British prison. Having seen enough of death and violence, he wants nothing more to do with the struggle that cost him his freedom and his love. But old loyalties die hard and, despite himself, Davy is drawn into a dangerous conspiracy on behalf of his fellow Provos . . . .
Meanwhile, Fiona has forged a new life for herself in Vancouver, British Columbia, far away from the war-torn streets of Belfast. Now a vice-principal at a local elementary school, she has a successful career, good friends, and a new man in her life. Yet she remains haunted by painful memories of her troubled homeland—and the love she left behind.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Patrick Taylor
Patrick Taylor, M.D., was born and raised in Bangor County Down in Northern Ireland. Dr. Taylor is a distinguished medical researcher, offshore sailor, model-boat builder, and father of two grown children. He lives on Saltspring Island, British Columbia.
Related to Now and in the Hour of Our Death
Related ebooks
The British Media and Bloody Sunday Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Civil War in Dublin: The Fight for the Irish Capital, 1922–1924 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Bloodiest Year: British Soldiers in Northern Ireland, in their Own Words Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfterlives: The Hunger Strike and the Secret Offer That Changed Irish History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNorthern Ireland: An Agony Continued: The British Army and the Troubles 1980–83 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Fifty Dead Men Walking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Peace & War: The Story of The Queen's Royal Hussars Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMary Lou McDonald: A Republican Riddle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGreat Irish Heroes: Famous Irish Heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRuairí Ó Brádaigh: The Life and Politics of an Irish Revolutionary Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Children of the Troubles: Our Lives in the Crossfire of Northern Ireland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bloody Belfast: An Oral History of the British Army's War Against the IRA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Victim's of The IRA Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProvo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thomas Clarke: 16Lives Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My 1916: What the Easter Rising Means to Me Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRebel Hearts: Journeys Within the IRA's Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Out of the Ashes: An Oral History of the Provisional Irish Republican Movement Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Provos: The IRA and Sinn Fein Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Shan Hackett: The Pursuit of Exactitude Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with the Enemy: My Brother's Life and Death with the Coldstream Guards in Northern Ireland Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDead Man Running Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNo Middle Path: The Civil War in Kerry Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ulster Tales: A Tribute to Those Who Served, 1969–2000 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReporting the Troubles 2: More journalists tell their stories of the Northern Ireland conflict Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTorn Apart: Fifty Years of the Troubles, 1969-2019 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Black and Tans Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Northern Ireland Troubles in Britain: Impacts, engagements, legacies and memories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Famine Irish: Emigration and the Great Hunger Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Thrillers For You
Pretty Girls: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paris Apartment: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Perfect Marriage: A Completely Gripping Psychological Suspense Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Animal Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girl Who Was Taken: A Gripping Psychological Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Flight: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Terminal List: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Huntress: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Turn of the Key Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Family Upstairs: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The It Girl Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Maidens: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Zero Days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Whisper Man: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Needful Things Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Different Seasons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. Mercedes: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Walk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Good Indians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Now and in the Hour of Our Death
1 rating1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Patrick Taylor is probably better known for his Irish Country books but as this books shows he can write a darker style of fiction too. This book takes place in Northern Ireland and also in Vancouver. Taylor has lived in both places and the little details he works into the writing make the settings very realistic.In 1983 the Irish Troubles were in full swing. The Irish Provisional Army (the Provos) had been fighting a guerrilla style war against the British army forces to gain independence in the six northern counties that had been left as part of Britain when the rest of Ireland gained indepence. Many civilians had been killed in the ongoing battle. Some Provos saw their deaths as a necessary evil but Davy McCutcheon had finally come to see them as unacceptable. In 1974 he had promised his girlfriend, Fiona Kavanagh, that he would do one final job and then emigrate to Canada with her. Instead he was caught by the British forces and imprisoned in the Kesh. Fiona left Ireland and moved to Vancouver herself where she tried to forget about Davy. Now Davy has a chance to break out of the Kesh with a bunch of other Provos. His friend Jimmy has just run into Fiona in Vancouver and sent him her picture. That impetus persuades him to join the breakout in the hopes he could be reunited with her. The odds against making it are long.It has always astonished me how bloody the conflict between holders of different religious faiths can become. The epilogue to this book starts out as follows:In the twenty-five years of internecine strife (1969-94) in Northern Ireland, 3,268 people were killed and more than thirty thousand wounded. The Troubles didn't even end in 1994 although a peace process started then. It took until 2007 for the process to finish. The British Army ended Operation Banner in July 2007, thirty-eight years after it started. In a way, I find it heartening to have lived to see this. If Northern Ireland could finally achieve peace then perhaps other areas of the world can also do so.