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Deirdre Quiery

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Eden Burning Paperback – October 1, 2015

by Deirdre Quiery (Author)

3.9 119 ratings

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Two families collide in a compelling tale of love, loyalty, and hate during the Troubles in Belfast, 1972

Tom listened to Mrs McLaughlin’s brogues briskly clump across the marble floor towards the exit at the back of the Church. When the wooden door thumped closed, he looked around the Church to make sure that he was alone, then heaved himself to his feet, opened the Confessional, blessed himself, and in the darkness whispered to Father Anthony, “Father, get me a gun.”

Northern Ireland, 1972. On the Crumlin Road, Belfast, the violent sectarian Troubles have forced Tom Martin to take drastic measures to protect his family. Across the divide William McManus pursues his own particular bloody code, murdering for a cause. Yet both men have underestimated the power of love and an individual’s belief in right and wrong, a belief that will shake the lives of both families with a greater impact than any bomb blast. This is a compelling, challenging story of conflict between and within families—driven by religion, belief, loyalty, and love. In a world deeply riven by division, how can any individual transcend the seemingly inevitable violence of their very existence?

Print length

344 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Urbane Publications
Publication date

October 1, 2015
Dimensions

5 x 1 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

1909273902
ISBN-13

978-1909273900
See all details

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Deirdre Quiery cofounded and runs Seven Rocks Consulting, a leadership development consultancy.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Urbane Publications; 1st edition (October 1, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 344 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1909273902
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1909273900
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 1 x 8 inches

Customer Reviews:
3.9 119 ratings

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3.9 out of 5

119 global ratings

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An Amazon Customer

A Thought Provoking and Engaging Read

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2016

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I was reminded of 1970, sitting in the U of I Field House where Bernadette Devlin addressed thousands of students pleading her case. It was always difficult to know what position to take. There was so much hate on each side. This book reminds us there are always those who are caught in the middle of any political or religious conflict. This book humanizes the conflict .I was taken in by the characters and the author's ability to weave their stories within the larger context of the "Troubles." The book is fiction but the battles that we wage for right or wrong today are not much different today. Her vivid descriptions held my attention and left me an understanding why it was so difficult to take a side. Within the best and worst of us, I was reminded that we all have regret, pain, a desire to love and and to be loved.

Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2017

fantastic

A gripping read from cover to cover I read in ...

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2015

A gripping read from cover to cover I read in a weekend, made more sobering by the vivid first hand accounts of the emotional reality of living either side of the Peace Line during the Troubles.

Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2015

A very vivid and compelling story brought to life through colourful and dramatic narrative. The characters are strong, very believable, the scenes are set beautifully and the whole story line is gripping. A real insight into the tensions of life in Northern Ireland during the troubles.

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Top reviews from other countries

Ashley Quayle

Excellent read !

Reviewed in Canada on August 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

Excellent book , Irish thuggery at its best !

Tanya

Superb read, gets you immersed immediately!

Reviewed in Spain on July 22, 2019

Verified Purchase

I LOVED Eden Burning- oh my god I was up until 2:30am reading it, I couldn't put it down. It brought up so much for me and felt so confronting, healing, perspective giving, humane, lyrical and familiar. The familiarity of the places, the banter, the way the table was set on a Sunday and so many more things. Thank you!

NormyGirl

Beautifully written but hard going!

Reviewed in Australia on September 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

I am only a short way into this book. The language and style of writing is beautiful, but I am finding it hard to concentrate so not sure if I will manage to finish the book. I reserve judgement.

mark

“The truth is past all commiseration” (Maxim Gorky)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 28, 2016

Verified Purchase

Deirdre Quiery is a very fine writer indeed. There are some wonderfully poetic and lyrical descriptions in this novel, even during scenes which at first glance you'd think wouldn’t warrant them - yet they work. There is also a lot of horror – the horror of how violence can be almost normalised in a society at war with itself. Set in 1970s Belfast, I certainly learned a lot about what it must have been like for ordinary people caught up in such a desperate conflict. Nowhere feels safe, yet ordinary life must continue: going to work or school, preparing breakfast, pursuing artistic interests, making friends across the divides, hoping against hope for a better world, and a better life.

Some parts of this novel were difficult to read – not because of any fault of the writer – rather that you knew a person was being taken to their death, and all their prayers and begging for mercy could not save them. These awful journeys were repeated several times. As a reader, I felt this very strong desire to jump into the plot and stop it. Stop the murder and the cruelty. I feel this can only be a testament to the power of Deirdre Quiery’s writing.

One of my favourite aspects of the storytelling style prevalent in “Eden Burning” is the way in which the author would set up a scene, usually domestic, and out of this, other stories would unfurl, plumbing the depths of the characters’ lives, their reasons for being as they are. This did not distract from the flow, rather it deepened the reading experience, and made you care more about the people you were spending time with, for you got to know them as they knew themselves, their dreams, hopes, courage, and failures.

As the story careens to its highly dramatic end, all the principal characters are drawn in, all sides of the wider conflict, and terrible family secrets are finally revealed. The truth is told, unvarnished, and people are changed by it, emboldened by it, albeit the truth cannot alter what they have done – the guilty are not absolved of responsibility, and justice must still be served. But, by the ending, with its highly symbolic image (which I will not reveal here), one feels, and hopes, that the terror and violence, at least for the principal characters, has peaked.

3 people found this helpful

Ann Gracie

Emotional & Heart Warming

Reviewed in Canada on August 23, 2019

Verified Purchase

While I enjoyed reading this book, it wasn't as gripping as many that are written about warm time efforts. I expected all to be well in the end, and for the most part it was.

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