‘Once Upon A Time in the North West’, the eighth novel from the Derry writer, charts the fortunes of a family run newspaper in the city from its foundation in 1912 until the meeting between former IRA leaders and Queen Elizabeth II in 2012-one hundred years on.For more, clickety-click here …
This story will take readers to both sides of the Atlantic; through the War of Independence, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, gerrymandering and political corruption, the formation of JFK’s Irish Camelot, the Civil Rights Movement, sectarian murders, the hunger strikes and the ceasefires.
As all this develops the novel focuses on the death of a well-connected Irish newspaper owner, Sean Madden. His passing triggers a secret hunt for his memoirs. As owner of the North West Chronicle, Sean Madden had accumulated a in-depth memoir of what actually happened and hugely at odds of official accounts. As such, the Americans want to get their hands on it before the British and the Irish. Yet, Madden’s hard-nosed granddaughter Maeve, heir to the newspaper, has her own interests to protect as well.
This historical novel-cum-21st century mystery makes for a pulsating page turner that transports the reader on an epic journey of war and peace, love and loss, politics and criminality across the twentieth century.
“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.” – Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian
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