This is an account of the life of the Catholic community of Belfast in the Sixties and Seventies, based on the author's own childhood experiences, and told from the point of view of schoolgirl Annie McPhelimy. Annie, her family and friends experience the terror, excitement and hilarity of life in a "no-go" IRA stronghold, acting as both victims and chief protagonists in the constant round of riots, house searches, demonstrations and shootings. Annie's mother, a politically naive but militant pacifist, sets up a peace movement, only to incur the active disapproval of the local community. Annie herself struggles to enjoy whatever romantic diversions present themselves, but even her love-life is subjected to restrictions and traumas, exemplified by the imprisonment of her childhood hero in Long Kesh jail, for IRA activities. Humorous and harrowing in equal measure, the book is a celebration of the indomitable spirit of a community subjected to the everday horror of violence and the prejudice and injustice of an intractable political situation.
- ISBN10 0749312602
- ISBN13 9780749312602
- Publish Date 24 June 1993 (first published 30 June 1992)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 July 1995
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Cornerstone
- Imprint Mandarin
- Edition New edition
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 288
- Language English