Bitter Orange: First Edition

284 pp. Author's first novel. "Written with unusual sensitivity and sympathy, this stunning first novel takes as its motif a universal theme, the tragic destruction of a family in a violent society. Set in the time of Ireland's current heartbreaking troubles, Bitter Orange is an unforgettable story, told through three generations of the Malones. The Malone family lives in squalor of a Belfast ghetto, where they are bitterly divided over a dream of freedom that refuses to die. Grandpa, a fierce armchair Republican, sees the conflict through the rhetoric of the past but is unable to comprehend the present violence. His daughter, Mary Malone, seeks life for her family but is met at every turn by ceaseless brutality and death. Of Mary's twin sons, one, Bryan, simply hates the killing, while the other, Vincent, experiencing the violence first hand when he joins the IRA, flees to Southern Ireland. There he meets and falls in love with Mairead, a beautiful peasant girl. But even his love for Mairead fails to quell his rising hatred for the Orangemen. Drawn back into the fight for freedom, he brings her home -- only to face devastation and dire peril to them both."