Review: 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion

1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion by Morgan Llywelyn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book took almost a week for me to finish, which is long for me. So much history thrown into a few fictional characters meant that I had to read it carefully! I appreciated the list of fictional characters and real people at the beginning--I kept referring to it as I read the novel.

Ned, the main character, survives the Titanic, and it awakens his nationalism. He saw how the second class Irish passengers were treated on the ship, and realized that they are always treated as second class citizens by the British. He finds himself a student at Patrick Pearse's progressive boarding school, and, next thing you know, Ned is in the middle of it all--joining the Volunteers, running messages between the rebels, and saving children's lives, and falling in love.

This book worked for what I wanted it to do--when I go to Ireland in a few months, I want to recognize the people I hear about and the historical places I see. Now I understand why the bullet holes ended up in the post office walls of Dublin, and I'll appreciate finding them myself!

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