Barely eighteen years old, young Willie Dunne leaves Dublin in 1914 to fight for the Allied cause, largely unaware of the growing political and religious tensions festering back home.

It's a close up portrait of the fighting in the trenches of Belgium in WW1. Willie is an innocent and unpolitical participant.
The background of the fighting in ireland only comes to the force in the last part of the book when Willie is caught between the Irish at home who insult him as "tommy" and the English who don't trust their irish soldies in the field anymore.

Released at the Bookcrossing Anniversary Convention Dublin 2012.

If you aren't familiar with Bookcrossing, take a few minutes to check out this very cool site. Bookcrossers LOVE books, and more than anything, they love to read books and then set them free for other people to find and enjoy. We would love it, if you would leave a journal entry -- you can say where you found the book or how you liked it when you read it.

I picked this up at the bookcrossing convention to take back to Yorkshire for Nu-Knees, who isn't able to be here but would like to read this book. Thanks!

Tree-hugger and I swapped Sebastian Barrys when we met this afternoon: I gave her The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty and she gave me this from my Wish List. Thank you so much for bringing it home from the Dublin Convention for me, lass :-) It was good to hear what a great weekend you had there! And thank you, hon-no-tomo, for registering it and making it available in the first place.
I've also previously enjoyed Annie Dunne and The Secret Scripture by this author.

Brilliant - absolutely brilliant!
The trenches of the first world war never make easy reading - but in the hands of this master of prose poetry, they make beautiful reading.
I found this novel totally mesmerising. I just couldn't put it down!
Loved it!

Afterthought for the sake of honesty: I can't talk about the beauty of his writing without adding that the soldiers' language is rather basic and the swearing might be a bit too much for readers of a sensitive nature!

Given to my friend and next door neighbour, BookCrosser Blower!