Troubles
by J. G. Farrell
1970 / 480 pages
rating 10 / hist fiction

Farrell is an under-appreciated genius in my opinion, and it’s especially apparent in this sad yet humorous award-winning novel about the time of “Troubles” in Ireland circa 1919-1921 with a larger view to the collapse of the entire British Empire. This is his second novel in the Empire series – (not a trilogy, joined by theme).

On the surface, this is the story of an English war veteran, Major Brendan Archer, returned from the trenches and off to Kilnalough, a small fictional town, to meet the family of his supposed fiancé, Angela Spencer. The Anglo-Irish Angela lives with her father, Edward, in an old and rambling but dilapidated seaside hotel called the Majestic along with a few >>>>MORE>>>>