Fed up with life in austerity Ireland? Try this historical thriller to see how you’d fancy life here in 1937. In his debut novel, Sweeney, now based in Denmark, evokes a time of stifling claustrophobia. The people are cowed conformists, a flash motor draws begrudging attention and an affectionate uncle daren’t let his nephew and a young woman stay overnight without permission from the local priest. Even the hero, Holland, an IRA member with notions of himself as a rebel, is motivated less by idealism and more by that eternal Irish sulk: he was done out of land. Holland’s job for a mysterious foreign financier brings him together with Sabine, a tough German Jewish refugee who challenges his assumptions. In a fascinating exchange, Sabine asks Holland why he fights his own country. Holland waffles, but has suffered no personal persecution – unlike Sabine. This book is a blend of mystery, love story and thriller complete with killings, pursuit and betrayal. Yet it’s written with a literary sensibility, with lovely descriptions of the author’s native Cavan.
