Backcover Description: The first of four Kavanagh stories, A Few Men Faithful sets the stage, defines the Kavanagh family and tells of a troubled land and an equally troubled romance amid war and treachery. Time span: 1916 to 1924 in Dublin, County Cork and Northern Ireland. Major events: Easter Rising, Secret War, War of Independence, the Irish Civil War. This last is little known and less explored, especially through the eyes of a soldier on the losing side. The main character, Danny Kavanagh, escapes Dublin in 1916 only to become one of the Twelve Apostles, that squad of executioners Michael Collins used to shut the spying eyes in Dublin Castle. As a soldier he is haunted, nearly driven mad, by what he has done, what he cannot do, yet still hold onto that deathless dream of a united Ireland. He pays the price, finally, as an exile and IRA emissary in North America. Anyone interested in high-speed historical fiction will find A Few Men Faithful to their liking.
Jim Wills has had many and varied careers. In more or less historical order, he has been a race engine builder, a teacher, an academic, a hard rock miner, a book editor and ghost writer, a commercial writer in print and video, a novelist, a mason, and a baker. Some, if not all, have overlapped in time and continue.
Book Review/s to share: Two of four on Amazon.com:
1. This is the first of the Kavanagh saga. Although it may be fiction the events of the time are quite accurate. The schools I went to in the 60's and 70's provided me with the following information on Irish history: 1. there was a potato crop failure and a massive immigration to the US, 2. Ireland wants independence from the UK. There is a total lack of historical & political education. This book brings some of the story to light. This glimpse of a family's generational story is both a page turner and spell binding. It has given cause to read a few non-fiction accounts of the action of the times. Keep a lookout for the other 3 books by the author as the tale of the Kavanaghs continues to the next generation.
P. Farina, Los Angeles
2. This book is rich with accurate history, well researched, poured out in the deliciously nuanced tale of the Kavanaghs. Though the family might be fictitious, the true story of the Irish is unearthed here in a compelling story of human yearning tangled in one beautiful and troubled country's destiny. Galloping through this book on the momentum of the storytelling leaves you wishing for more - more about the strong characters in the family, more about their love and desires forced between violence and revenge, more about the habitual propaganda that has buried the truth, more about the tragic history of the Emerald Isle. It's good, very good! There are rumors of sequels to this book, so don't despair when this one's done - look for them!
Patrice O’Neill-Maynard, Ghent, New York.
Email to share: j.wills@sympatico.ca
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