Dear Great Book Guru, After a week of celebrating our country’s 249^th birthday, my thoughts turned to our neighbors across the sea, and I would love to read some historical fiction set perhaps in Ireland.  Any recommendations?  Fan of Historical Fiction

Dear Fan of Historical Fiction, I recently read THESE DAYS by Lucy Caldwell – a novel set in   Belfast, Northern Ireland. When we think of World War II and bombings, one does not think of Belfast but in April and May of 1941, the city was almost destroyed in three separate air raids known as the Belfast Blitz. The story describes four days spread over these two months and the impact these raids had on the lives of one family - the Bells. Phillip Bell is a local doctor who tends to the victims and is confronted daily with searing images of pain and destruction. Florence Bell - his wife - deals anew with memories of her first love who was killed in World War I. Their daughter Audrey is involved with wedding plans but questions the fragility of her relationship amidst this background of despair and destruction. Emma - the other daughter - works as a volunteer at a First Aid Post, believing that she can make a difference while Paul – the youngest child - deals with the forces that shape his life at home and school.  Told from the perspectives of the family members and other Belfast denizens, the novel is brutal in its depictions of the terror and panic that the German air raids bring on a city already beset with poverty, unemployment, and food shortages – all of which continued long after the war had ended.  A harrowing read but highly recommended!