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Seek the Fair Land
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Wikipedia article
'Seek the Fair Land' is a novel by Irish author Walter Macken, first published by Macmillan and Company in 1959. It is the first book in his trilogy of Irish historical novels, and was followed by 'The Silent People' and 'The Scorching Wind'.
Plot
The narrative takes place during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland (164953). Dominick Macmahon's wife is killed during the Siege of Drogheda, in County Louth and after the ensuing massacre of the town's inhabitants he flees to the west of Ireland with his young son and daughter and a wounded priest, Father Sebastian.Pan Edition 1988 Cover Notes After two years of barely surviving Cromwell's marauding soldiers who are in search of peasants to sell as slaves, the group make it to the wild, mountainous and beautiful province of Connaught in the west of Ireland. There a clan-leader and sympathiser to their cause, Murdoc, grants them land on which to live. But danger continues to stalk them in the form of Sir Charles Coote, the Cromwellian ruler of Connaught. The fair land sought by Macmahon seems as remote as ever, unless Murdoc and his clan can find some means of resisting the invading forces.Kirkus Review, July 28, 1959
Critical response
'Seek the Fair Land' received mostly positive reviews. On its release the New York Herald Tribune described the novel as action-packed entertainmentan explosive segment of history, filled with contagious emotion. Mac Manus, Patricia, New York Herald Book Review, August 2, 1959 The Times said of it: It is an adventure story that is both exciting and moving. Times Literary Supplement review, October 16, 1959 Kirkus Reviews described the novel as an adventure story against a little known period and background. And the telling has the Irish lilt and poetry and drama, characteristic of Macken's earlier half-fey writings. Kirkus Reviews, July 28, 1959 The literary review website Reading Matters said: Macken's prose is vividly descriptive if the style is somewhat stodgy and old fashioned. But this does not take away from the dramatic storyline and the moving way in which he depicts his character's struggles against a despicable enemy.Reading Matters review, June 24, 2002 The book review website Goodreads gave Seek the Fair Land a rating of 4.2/5.[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/435889.Seek_the_Fair_Land Goodreads/Seek the Fair Land review]
References
See also
List of Irish novelists
Category:Irish historical novels
Category:1959 novels
Category:History books about Ireland
Category:20th-century Irish novels
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