Tipperary: A Novel of Ireland

By Frank Delaney

Book Overview

"My wooing began in passion, was defined by violence and circumscribed by land; all these elements molded my soul." So writes Charles O'Brien, the unforgettable hero of bestselling author Frank Delaney's extraordinary novel--a sweeping epic of obsession, profound devotion, and compelling history involving a turbulent era that would shape modern Ireland.

Born into a respected Irish-Anglo family in 1860, Charles loves his native land and its long-suffering but irrepressible people. As a healer, he travels the countryside dispensing traditional cures while soaking up stories and legends of bygone times-and witnessing the painful, often violent birth of land-reform measures destined to lead to Irish independence.

At the age of forty, summoned to Paris to treat his dying countryman-the infamous Oscar Wilde-Charles experiences the fateful moment of his life. In a chance encounter with a beautiful and determined young Englishwoman, eighteen-year-old April Burke, he is instantly and passionately smitten-but callously rejected. Vowing to improve himself, Charles returns to Ireland, where he undertakes the preservation of the great and abandoned estate of Tipperary, in whose shadow he has lived his whole life-and which, he discovers, may belong to April and her father.

As Charles pursues his obsession, he writes the "History" of his own life and country. While doing so, he meets the great figures of the day, including Charles Parnell, William Butler Yeats, and George Bernard Shaw. And he also falls victim to less well-known characters-who prove far more dangerous. Tipperary also features a second "historian: " a present-day commentator, a retired and obscure history teacher who suddenly discovers that he has much at stake in the telling of Charles's story.

In this gloriously absorbing and utterly satisfying novel, a man' s passion for the woman he loves is twinned with his country's emergence as a nation. With storytelling as sweeping and dramatic as the land itself, myth, fact, and fiction are all woven together with the power of the great nineteenth-century novelists. Tipperary once again proves Frank Delaney's unrivaled mastery at bringing Irish history to life.

Praise for Tipperary

"The narrative moves swiftly and surely. . . . A sort of Irish Gone With the Wind, marked by sly humor, historical awareness and plenty of staying power."--Kirkus Reviews

"Another meticulously researched journey...Delaney's careful scholarship and compelling storytelling bring it uniquely alive. Highly recommended."--Library Journal (starred)

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812975944
• ISBN13: 9780812975949
• Release Date: June 2008
• Publisher: Random House Trade
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 0.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.4" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Audio version makes the difference here!

I loved this book. I had no problem with the switching narratives, I believe that is because I listened to it. I loved the history and famous characters we met along the way. I loved how the book came together at the end and I can't wait to read Ireland especially since so many people liked that one better. Try the audio version from the library.

A magnificent novel in so many ways.

An intriguing story elegantly and eloquently told, populated with wonderful characters you come to know as if you had actually met them. And also a very informative and entertaining primer on the history of Ireland leading up to and including their War of Independence.

Quite Simply a Wonderful Novel

This is another wonderful book authored by Frank Delaney. I sat down and read it over the course of a weekend and was taken to another world in Tipperary, Ireland learning more about the history of Ireland and the lives of the characters Charles O'Brien, April Burke, and Joe Harney. For me, the book had a bit of an Irish Forrest Gump and Gone With The Wind flavor. The subject matter in the book changes often as well as the narrator in the passages. Yet, I was still able to follow the train of thought. While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as Delaney's previous novel, Ireland, I still found it a wonderful novel. If you love Irish novels, this is certainly one to add to your collection.

a Lavish look at Ireland

Ireland. The word conjures up many images. Green fields, low mountains, picturesque tranquility; rough and tough fighting men, beautiful ladies, and fair haired children; great authors, great fighters, and a fight for nationhood that spanned centuries; each image a part of Ireland, each depicting a land of many facets. To most readers, Ireland is the home or birthplace of Yeats and Shaw, Wilde and Joyce. The Irish urge to create beauty from within their indomitable spirit led to many a feat in all spheres of life. It is this spirit that Frank Delaney captures in Tipperary, his third US publication. Delaney is himself an émigré from Ireland, born in the very town where the novel is set. His knowledge of the town and its environs comes through clearly, as does his experience as a BBC broadcaster and judge for the Man Booker Prize. Tipperary is told primarily through the voices of two men, separated by a generation, one living at the dawn of the 20th century, and the other at the dawn of the 21st. They are both historians, one writing a personal and contemporary history, the other a commentator on the first. Charles O'Brien, the former of these, is a man of Victorian Ireland, a gentleman born in 1860 to an Ireland depopulated by famine. It is from him that the reader receives most of the story. O'Brien tells of the tumultuous times in which he lived by keeping a personal journal, something he calls a "small personal history of Ireland in my lifetime - a life of love and pain and loss and trouble and delight and knowledge." The other historian, Michael Nugent, discovered Charles O'Brien's text and interrupts the narrative often to explain or verify O'Brien's assertions or historical accuracy. However, unbeknownst to Nugent, he has a personal stake in the story, one which develops as the plot progresses. The plot follows O'Brien as he pursues April Burke, a woman twenty years his junior with whom he as fallen in love, but who vehemently rejects him. In the process, he meets with famous Irish notables of the period such as George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Oscar Wilde, Charles Stewart Parnell, and even Michael Collins, highly esteemed leader of the Irish Republican Army. April is discovered to be the heir to Tipperary Castle (which had lain unclaimed for fifty years) in a time when the landed aristocracy is greatly out of favor in Ireland. Many of the Irish wish the return of their ancestral lands to the people and civil and military unrest are on the rise. Against this backdrop April pursues her land, and Charles pursues her. Ultimately, it is a love story, one of a man for a woman, and of a people for its land. The novel itself is beautifully written. Delaney switches back and forth from the contemporary history of the late 1800s and early 1900s by Charles O'Brien and the commentary on that text by Nugent. Some readers will find the switches difficult to follow, but this reviewer did not. Delaney made sure within the first sentence, some

A Wonderful Look at Ireland

"Tipperary" it is safe to say, is one of the most enjoyable works of historical fiction I have read. At first I had a bit of a struggle with Delaney's style. Delaney told his tale from alternating points of view. He often switched points of view in the middle of a page and without any distiction other than the "voice" of the narrator. I have participated in enough reading groups to know that there are readers who would have issues with this. To them I would advise that they "hang in there" because the story is well worth the effort. It doesn't take long for Delaney's voices to become distinct. The author's format allows for a very large perspective on the lives of his characters. I loved this about the book. Delaney also has a very low key sense of humor which I really enjoy,very subtle but very funny when he uses it. I didn't know very much about Ireland when I started this novel. I tend to shy away from sob stories or "poor me" type books. It was a wonderful surprise to hear about Ireland and the Irish people from Delaney's perspective. The story was heartfelt and not at all sappy or over dramatized. After completing this book, I will no doubt read Delaney's first novel titled "Ireland". The author tells a good story in a captivating style.