Minstrel Boy by John Draper

The year is 1918 and the Great War is coming to a close. 

In Ireland, young men like Tommy Gleeson are relieved they will not be conscripted to fight for a distant government they do not support. It has been two years since the Easter Rising and the executions of the Republican leaders are still fresh in people’s minds. Influenza is stalking the land and Tommy has lost his beloved stepmother to the pandemic. 

Tommy doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. A bright lad from a land-owning family, he has a scholarship to attend university, but academic pursuits do not appeal to Tommy. He would rather ride his horse across the fields, catch a salmon in a stream or toss a ball with his little brother. He takes casual jobs with local farmers and dreams of greater things. 

In rural Tipperary, the escalating rebellion divides friends and families, and Tommy cannot decide where his loyalties lie. He would like to ignore the violence that surrounds him, but his two best friends have joined the rebels and his sweetheart has left nursing school to tend the wounded. The brutal tactics of both sides appal him, but as the fighting edges closer he finds that he cannot turn his back any longer and must choose sides in a struggle that threatens everything that is dear to him.

[323 pages, trade paperback]