Dear Great Book Guru, I am making plans for the upcoming Saint Patrick’s Day weekend.  Top on my list will be a traditional Irish dinner at the Metropolitan Bistro while listening to my favorite band of Irish troubadours - The Winfield Irregulars - featuring Sea Cliff’s own Joe Hughes.  During the week I would like to read some Irish history. Anything new you would recommend? 

Fan of All Things Irish

Dear Fan of All Things Irish, I have just finished a remarkable book - my #1 favorite this year- SAY NOTHING by Patrick Radden Keefe.  A mystery, a true crime tale, a study of Irish-Anglo history, a biography of three unforgettable characters, this is ultimately a depiction of the horrors, banality, and futility of war. Keefe opens in 1972 with the kidnaping and murder of a young widowed mother of ten: Jean McConville. Quickly the story turns to three young Irish rebel s- Dolours Price, Bernard Hughes, and Gerry Adams = who are all shown to have played a role in her disappearance and death. Price is a beautiful, charismatic woman who later marries the actor Stephen Rea after years of her imprisonment and torture in British prisons. Hughes is a thoughtful, skillful tactician who also spent many years in jail for his activism. Gerry Adams - the only one of the three still alive - is portrayed as a cunning master of politics who eventually is instrumental in bringing the ”troubles” to a close. This is an unforgettable story of lives destroyed and lives redeemed played out in the ultimate patriot game. Highly, highly recommended!