The Tenants of Time

Though I have not a drop of Irish ancestry I have long been fascinated by nineteenth century Irish history. The Green Flag: The Turbulent History of the Irish National Movement, by Robert Kee, was the best book I read in 1972, and The Parnell Tragedy, by Jules Abels, was the best book I read in 1974 (even tho it is not the best book on Parnell--F.S.L. Lyons' book, Charles Stewart Parnell, which I read 20 May 1979, is equally... Read Full Review

"Tenants" begins on the eve of the Fenian uprising of 1867. We meet four young men and their compatriots as they train to confront the British and the Irish Constabulary and free Ireland -- or so they hope. There is Robert Delaney, shopkeeper and politician to be, Ned Nolan, a returning Irish-American whose hardline sympathies presage the IRS, Vincent Tully, squireen and future brother-in-law of Delaney, and Hugh McMahon,... Read Full Review

"Tenants of Time", Flanagan's book between "Year of the French" and "End of the Hunt", deals with the Parnell era in Irish politics. But it is much more than that. Three men bound together by an act of failed rebellion in their early years, remain tied to one another and their actions on that day while a young historian tries to understand "a single moment in history" represented by that doomed rebellion.The characters... Read Full Review

Spanning four decades of tense Irish history after the Famine years, Flanagan's tour de force masterfully weaves the life stories of four boyhood friends from County Cork whose adult lives result in different and conflicting choices regarding their roles in Irish society and politics. Together, they join the Fenian brotherhood in 1865, but the revolution's failure pushes them on divergent paths for fuller meaning in... Read Full Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I found it a less stunning experience than the author's previous novel, "The Year of the French." Once again, he's chosen a little-known incident in Irish history and written about it vividly, with a cast of memorable characters. He depicts the landscape, the people, and the historical setting with a wealth of detail, and both dialogue and descriptions are beautifully expressed. ... Read Full Review