Fire On The Hill - Softcover

Gretta Curran Browne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 074723762X ISBN 13: 9780747237624

Publisher: Headline, 1992

Synopsis

AN EPIC NOVEL FROM IRELAND'S PAST. A complete and stand-alone novel, as well as being part of £The Liberty Trilogy". Although presented here as a novel FIRE ON THE HILL is a true story based on recorded facts. Michael Dwyer was born, cradled and then grew from boy to man under the shade of the Wicklow Hills. He knows every inch of them - the secret streams to quench a man's thirst, the wild game to keep away hunger, the wood in excess to burn, and the sheltering caves. And then, in the historic year of 1798 he comes to know love. When Michael Dwyer first dances with Mary Doyle on the night of the Spring Fair, many of the locals see their love story unfold before their eyes, a story so unique they will later tell it to their grandchildren. Destined to be a farmer like his father before him, Michael loves the land, and is content to work in the fields and live of the yield, but in that same year of 1798 the militia, hated pawns of the rulers in Dublin Castle, force him to leave the land and take to his beloved mountains, where he becomes what every Wicklow youth dreams of being - a man who owns no master, a man who refuses to bend a servile knee. And always, standing somewhere amidst the green glens and beautiful landscape of Wicklow, is Mary, watching and waiting, caring nothing for patriotism and heroism, only for her love of the rebel captain, but love on the run cannot last forever. Having walked the green glens of Michael Dwyer's native County Wicklow, Gretta Curran Browne - in this rigorously researched historical novel - reveals the complexities and humanity of an extraordinary Irish rebel leader. FIRE ON THE HILL is a magnificent historical novel and a passionate and poignant love story.

About this title

About the Author

Gretta Curran Browne was born in Dublin city where she spent some of her childhood years in the notorious Goldenbridge orphanage. Later she was transferred to a second orphanage in Preston in England, which was less harsh, and where, due to one special nun, she became acquainted with the magic of storytelling. In her teenage years she moved to London to study Drama, working as a telephonist at night to pay her rent and attending Drama school in the day: after which she spent some years working full time in theatre and occasionally in television. Her first attempts at professional writing began after her two children were born, and she became a full-time mother, writing at night when the world and her children were asleep. She began with two short stories, both of which won prizes. She then began her first novel, `Tread Softly On My Dream’s, based on the true story of the young Irish hero, Robert Emmet. Published by Headline and critically acclaimed by the Press, Tread Softly On My Dreams was acquired by the University of Notre Dame in the US, and The Princess Grace Irish Library in the palace of Monaco. This was followed by her second Irish novel, Fire On The Hill and later followed by her first contemporary novel, Ghosts In Sunlight. Gretta’s writing career was interrupted in full flow when her son broke his back in an accident and needed her care for some years. Now fully recovered, her son is a successful young actor and Gretta has returned to her passion for writing. She has just completed her new Historical novel, By Eastern Windows, based again on a true story, set primarily in Scotland and India, and has already started work on the sequel The Far Horizon, set primarily in early Australia. Gretta is married to a lawyer and lives in London.

About this edition

• Publisher: Headline
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 074723762X
• ISBN 13: 9780747237624
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 640