1999: A Novel of the CelticTiger and the Search for Peace

✍ Scribed by Llywelyn, Morgan

• Book ID: 107832912
• Publisher: Forge Books
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 361 KB
• Series: 1999
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN-13: 9780312878498

✦ Synopsis

The Irish Century concludes in this climactic novel; Llywelyn’s masterpiece is complete

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The Irish Century series is the story of the Irish people’s epic struggle for independence through the tumultuous course of the twentieth century. Morgan Llywelyn’s magisterial multi-novel chronicle of that story began with 1916 , which was followed by 1921 , 1949 , and 1972. It now concludes with 1999: A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace. 1999 brings the story from 1972 to the disarmament talks and beginnings of reconciliation among the Irish at the end of the twentieth century.

Barry Halloran, strong, clever, and passionately patriotic, who was the central character of 1972 , remains central. Now a crippled photojournalist, he marries his beloved Barbara Kavanaugh, and steps back from the armed struggle. Through his work he documents the historic events that take us from the horrific aftermath of Bloody Sunday through the decades of The Troubles to the present. This is a noble conclusion to an historical mega-novel that will be read for years.

From Publishers Weekly

In Llywelyn's fifth and final installment in the Irish Century series, she offers a fastidious take on The Troubles, weaving facts and historical figures with the fictitious lives of a former IRA soldier, his American-born wife and his resolute republican mother. Photojournalist Barry Halloran, formerly an IRA Volunteer, races from the aftermath of Bloody Sunday to Dublin, where he seeks the guidance of his training officer, Seamus McCoy. Concerned that the sickly Seamus wants to return to active service, Barry spontaneously proposes to his mercurial lover, Barbara, in order to detain Seamus as his best man for his wedding. After the wedding, Barbara turns into something of a shrew and Barry's career begins to take off—providing a convenient device to document the escalating conflict. Not even Seamus's imprisonment or the crippling of Barry's mother by a car bomb deters him from faithfully capturing The Troubles on film. Though Llywelyn is meticulous in cataloguing the wartime atrocities committed by both sides, the narrative lacks a driving force and loses steam in covering the myriad skirmishes and failed peace talks. Readers familiar with the previous volumes will enjoy this the most; the uninitiated may have trouble. (Feb.)
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Review

"Her characters spring instantly to life and the reader remains captivated from first page to last.”—Jean M. Auel on Grania

"Well-realized characters and a vivid history make for richly gratifying reading.”— Publishers Weekly on 1942

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"The lucid narrative and the compelling subject matter will enthrall both Irish history buffs and fans of sweeping historical fiction.” --Booklist on 1921

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“In Llywelyn’s skilled hands the lives of the fictional and real-life characters mesh as miscalculations, misjudgments, and betrayal lead inexorably to the firing squad. . . .1916 is an involving and enriching experience.” —TheEdmonton Journal on 1916

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“A masterpiece is how best I can describe this latest novel from the pen of Morgan Llywelyn. . . . It is a difficult undertaking to get the facts right yet have a rip-roaring yarn. I think Morgan Llywelyn has succeeded in this and the book would stand scrutiny by critics and historians alike. A marvelous achievement.” — Republican News(Dublin) on 1916