Edward Rutherford
The second part of Rutherford’s Ireland saga. Starting in 1597 and ending in 1922, it continues to trace the life and times of the six families first presented in Dublin, and adds a few more. It starts with the Reformation, the arrival of Oliver Cromwell and the Ascendancy.
Rutherford, as usual, combines the lives of fictitious and real characters, like Henry Grattan and Daniel O’Connell, and tackles the famine, Home Rule movement etc to present a picture that justifies what might have been the sentiment of the age, though historians might have a few minor problems with accuracy.
Towards the end of the book, we can also see the rise of Young Irelanders, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, precursors to the IRA.
The book is perhaps at a step lower than Dublin, as the author seemed more preoccupied with presenting historical incidents, as opposed to characterisation, which he usually excels at. He might have sensed this too, but what has then happened is a slightly lumpy narrative, with occasional strong characters and at most times, a predominance of history itself. But having said that, it is still a wonderful read, and I particularly liked the author’s use of character names and situations (eg. Conall – Deirdre – MacGowan) to show that the more things changed the more they remained the same.