1949 (Llywelyn, Morgan) Book

The struggle of the Irish people for independence is one of the epic tales of the twentieth century. Morgan Llywelyn has chosen it as the subject of her major work, a multi-novel chronicle that began with 1916, continued in 1921, and now comes up to the mid-century in 1949. In this compelling book Llywelyn tells the story of a charming young woman, Ursula Halloran, who comes of age in the 1920s, and experiences the passions and pains of the times in a way that brings them alive for every reader. The horror and tragedy of civil war give way to a repressive Catholic state, in which married women cannot hold jobs, divorce is illegal, and the IRA becomes a band of outlaws still devoted to and fighting for a Republic that never lived. Ursula, an idealist, believes in a fiercely independent Ireland. She falls in love, bears a child out of wedlock, and in the war years finds fulfillment running her family farm in neutral Ireland.Read More