The Canal Bridge

By Tom Phelan and Tom Phelan

Book Overview

'... a lad could be sent to any place in the world, to any spot in the empire on which the sun never set, an empire with huge mountains and lakes with no bottoms to them; waterfalls a mile high; rivers a hundred miles across where they floated into the sea ...' Ireland 1913, on the eve of the First World War. Matt Wrenn and Con Hatchel, inseparable friends, join the British army in search of escape, adventure, the wonder of exotic lands, and the security of regular money in their pockets. To some they are making something of their lives; to others, they are traitors to Ireland. As they sail to their first posting in India, they find themselves diverted to France- to the fields 'made liquid by the blood and guts of boy soldiers'. For four years Con and Matt become part of the terrible savagery of the Somme, Ypres and Passchendaele. Back home in the Irish Midlands, Con's sister and Matt's sweetheart, Kitty, recalls their carefree childhood on the banks of the local canal, and hopes for a future after the war. But as the lads battle for survival amidst the horror of the trenches, the Easter Rising begins to cast divisive shadows across the country. A visceral, lyrical evocation of the physical and emotional devastation of the First World War, The Canal Bridge is a compelling story of friendship, love and tragedy that lingers long in the memory.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1843510758
• ISBN13: 9781843510758
• Release Date: October 2005
• Publisher: Lilliput Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Great writing

Tom Phelan makes those terrible times come to life in a very special way with this novel. The characters are engaging, the story first rate. He clearly has done his homework, and this is a very moving book. It is one of the saddest things I've ever read.

WOW

Canal Bridge was an amazing book about an Irish story one never hears about or sees in the movie -- Irish in World War I -- fighting for the British against the Germans -- but it was more than that -- it was their Vietnam -- an unpopular war, an angry populace. Yet this is also a fierce love story told through multiple points of view, between lovers, friends, neighbors. Also amazing -- the author is 90+ years old! Not that that should matter in a book, but it's a wonderful tidbit. READ THIS wonderfully written and compelling book!!

Vintage Phelan!

I absolutely loved this book, from the first page to the last. Mr.Phelan has honed his writing skills and sharpened his pen (well, computer) to produce this excellent novel of a small village in Ireland and the folks of same who lived through World War I. The writing is good. the storyline crisp, and the characters well defined. Good job!

World War One Masterpiece

The Irish Independent calls Tom Phelan's THE CANAL BRIDGE "Another First World War masterpiece....An ambitious, accomplished and deeply moving contribution to Ireland's formidable corpus of fiction about the Great War." Books Ireland, the magazine of the Irish publishing industry, describes THE CANAL BRIDGE as "a powerful and deeply affecting novel." The Irish Emigrant says THE CANAL BRIDGE is "a masterful story...Must be ranked among the more successful of the novels dealing with the First World War." About a quarter of a million Irish men served in the British army in World War One, and about 35,000 died. Tom Phelan's gripping new novel, THE CANAL BRIDGE, tells the story of two Irish stretcher-bearers (and the lovers and families they leave behind) as they struggle to survive the slaughterhouse that was Europe from 1914-1918. Due to political divisiveness, Ireland has no tradition of honoring the memory of its WWI soldiers. In writing The Canal Bridge, Tom Phelan has raised awareness of these men and paid tribute to them.