Jennifer Johnston’s moving, yet sparse and unsentimental, account of a sensitive young boy growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Joe Logan lives with his parents in Derry, where British soldiers are a familiar sight, and the sudden smashing and crashing of unexpected raids breaks the peace of the nights. One winter he befriends a stranger to Derry, lonely school teacher Kathleen Doherty. And his elder brother returns from London with money to spend and a gun in his pocket. Suddenly, Joe’s childhood is over, his innocence destroyed.

Shortlisted
The Booker Prize 1977
Published by
Hamish Hamilton
Publication date
Jennifer Johnston

Jennifer Johnston

About the Author

Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin in 1930. She is one of the foremost Irish writers of her, or any, generation.
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