Beneath the Cedar Tree (Paperback)

Frank Shouldice

ISBN 10: 1068664533 / ISBN 13: 9781068664533

Published by The Liffey Press, Dublin, 2025

About this Item

Paperback. Unable to free themselves from a personal trauma six years past, one that has come back to haunt them due to an outrageous miscarriage of justice, Brendan and Irene Gogarty find themselves amongst a planeload of Holy Joes bound for Medjugorje. A pair of agnostics, most unlikely pilgrims, theyre taking a punt on divine deliverance.Medjugorje in 1995 is a spiritual shrine in the middle of a warzone, a ready-made getaway with Vegas-type odds on salvation, but the sacred hill does not deliver. Overcome with unrealistic hopes for some heavenly sign, Irene has a meltdown on Cross Mountain. Things will never be the same.The couple head for the coast and witness first-hand a country ravaged by conflict before they reach the azure calm of the Adriatic. Over lazy days in a fishing village the Gogartys begin to unwind. On a whim Brendan decides to buy an old cottage dubbed the villa as a gift for Irene. It is perfect except that it is occupied by the auctioneers pregnant cousin, Anja, and her severely war-damaged husband, Damir. The young Bosnian couple literally have nothing, yet it is the Gogartys who feel they have lost everything.Irene cannot accept Brendans offer of a fresh beginning, knowing it would result in her new friends becoming homeless, but now the Irish couple must face some hard truths about both their past and their future.In this unlikely setting in a faraway land, Brendan and Irene must reach deep into themselves and, under the shade of a cedar tree, find the means to cope with loss and discover the things that really matter . . . A family tragedy. Justice denied. A painful search for revenge and then salvation. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781068664533

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Beneath the Cedar Tree (Paperback)
• Publisher: The Liffey Press, Dublin
• Publication Date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1068664533
• ISBN 13: 9781068664533
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

It’s 1995, five years since Brendan and Irene Gogarty lost their only son. The man responsible for the boy’s death is about to be released from prison, four years ahead of sentence. Overwhelmed by a crippling sense of injustice the Gogartys seek revenge.
Thwarted at every turn they take a punt on salvation. They make for Medjugorje, a spiritual shrine in the middle of a Balkan warzone. Deliverance does not come easy, not for a pair of agnostics on pilgrimage. When Irene has a meltdown on Cross Mountain they know things will never be the same.
The couple head for the azure calm of the Adriatic. There they meet a Bosnian couple, Anja and her severely war-damaged husband Damir, whose lives have been ripped asunder by turmoil in their home city, Sarajevo. An uneasy and unlikely friendship develops.
In this unique setting, Frank Shouldice brilliantly explores how one grief-stricken Irish couple finds the means to cope with loss and discover the things that really matter ...