The Killing Snows: The Defining Novel of The Great Irish Famine. Este artículo no está disponible.The Killing Snows: The Defining Novel of The Great Irish Famine

Charles Egan has personalised one of the most tragic periods of Irish history in an interesting and evocative way in his new book, which was launched this month in London. Whilst ultimately a fictional account, it is based on a series of authentic documents that were passed to Egan by his father, who gave him the box containing a lease, two payrolls and three letters which covered the years of the Irish Famine and have been stored for over 100 years. Cleverly and eloquently, they have been used to create a character based on the great-grand-uncle of the author that explores the struggle and survival of those in the Famine. Set in 1846, Luke Ryan, the son of a poor farmer in the West of Ireland has returned from England to hope run the family farm. However, he is faced with the growing epidemic and one of the worst snowstorms in Irish history (the Killing Snows of the title). As one of the few literate workers around Luke is appointed to supervise the road building projects throughout the country, but rather than helping it only serves to alienate him from his own people as their suffering heightens through disease and starvation. Dealing with his estrangement and the impossibility of forbidden love, Luke is pushed to his emotional limits. A powerful and compelling story which not only tells the story of Luke and his family, it is also a vital reminder of the fragility of life, love and survival. --Irish Post

Egan, whose father was brought up on a small farm in the townland of Corohore on the Kiltimagh/Swinford road, would never have written his book at all but for a box of documents found on the family farm 19 years ago. The discovery was made by the author s father in 1990 following the death of one of his brothers. Some of the documents a lease, two payrolls and three letters covered the years of the famine. Egan Snr. handed the cache of papers over to Charles. The documents painted a grim picture of life in Mayo in the mid-19th century as successive potato crops failed. In Charles Egan s own words they told an incredible story of suffering, of love and courage . The main character in the book, Luke Ryan, is based loosely on the experiences of one of the author s great granduncles, James, the son of a small tenant farmer who becomes a supervisor on a famine relief scheme. --Connaught Telegraph

It's a harrowing book I must say. But a warm book. --East Coast Radio