Bog Child
Encyclopedia
Bog Child is a historical novel
by Siobhan Dowd
. The book was released by David Fickling Books
on September 9, 2008. It was listed as one of Amazon's Best Book of the Year for 2008 and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year for the children's fiction category in 2008. It also won the 2009 Carnegie Medal
.
of a small girl near the Ireland-UK border. At the same time, Fergus is studying for his A-Level physics. He makes friends with Owain, one of the border guards, during one of his morning runs across the border. When he goes back to the site of the bog child, Fergus meets Cora and Felicity O'Brien, a girl his age and her archaeologist mother. Fergus named the bog body "Mel". He goes to Long Kesh
prison with his mother to meet his brother, Joe, who has been incarcerated as a political prisoner because of his involvement with the Provisional Irish Republican Army
.
He has joined his friends on a hunger strike
in protest to free Ireland from The Troubles
. After lifting Mel's body from the site, the excavation team, including Fergus and Cora, find that Mel has a noose around her neck. A flashback shows Mel and her family struggling to meet loan repayments. Fergus was asked by Michael Rafters to ferry packets across the border in an attempt to end his brother's hunger strike
. Fergus and Cora share their accidental first kiss but begin dating afterwards. After his final A-level exam, physics, Fergus and his family visit his brother in prison to find him gaunt-looking. He gets drunk and dreams about Mel talking to Rur, her love interest. When he wakes up, Cora informs him that Mel was a dwarf
. Fergus allows Cora and her mother to stay over at his place due to an appointment with a professor about Mel.
Radiocarbon dating
reveals that Mel lived around AD 80. After a bombing is shown on the news, Fergus begins to suspect the packets he has been ferrying. He opens them in front of Owain to see condom
s and contraceptive pills. Joe falls into a coma after 50 days of fasting. After a heated argument between Fergus and his parents they agree to put him on the drip
. Through a series of dreams, Fergus sees the events leading to Mel's death with Rur stabbing her at her request because she did not want to "feel the noose" around her neck. It is also found out at the end that Fergus' Uncle Tally actually is a local bomb-maker, nicknamed Deus, meaning god.
. She says that BBC
's Timewatch
was an "inspirational programme on recent discoveries of bog people in Ireland". She also mentions "the classic The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved by P. V. Glob
" in the same context.
picked Bog Child as one of the "Best Books of 2008". Bog Child was longlisted for the 2008 Guardian Award
. It won the 2009 Carnegie Medal in Literature. It was longlisted for the 2009 Manchester Book Award
. It was winner of the 2009 Bisto Book of the Year Awards
. It was listed as one of Publishers Weekly
's Best Book of the Year for the children's fiction category in 2008. It was listed by Kirkus Reviews
as one of the best young adult books of 2008. It was listed as one of Edgar Award
's best young adult novel in 2009.
Meg Rosoff from The Guardian
commends Dowd for being "incapable of a jarring phrase or a lazy metaphor. Her sentences sing; each note resonates with an urgent humanity of the sort that cannot be faked". Nicolette Jones from The Times
comments that the book is " psychologically and historically convincing, showing the impact of politics on domestic life". Booktrust Children's Books commends Fergus for being "an immensely likeable character whose story, along with that of the bog child, will long stay with those who read it". Meg Rosoff comments that the novel is "about questions of life and death".
Historical novel
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, a historical novel is-Development:An early example of historical prose fiction is Luó Guànzhōng's 14th century Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which covers one of the most important periods of Chinese history and left a lasting impact on Chinese culture.The...
by Siobhan Dowd
Siobhan Dowd
Siobhan Dowd was a British writer and activist.-Biography:Siobhan Dowd was born in London to Irish parents...
. The book was released by David Fickling Books
David Fickling Books
David Fickling Books is an imprint of Random House which has published books by authors including Philip Pullman, Mark Haddon, John Boyne, Nick Ward and Linda Newbery.-List of Books Published:-References:...
on September 9, 2008. It was listed as one of Amazon's Best Book of the Year for 2008 and one of Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year for the children's fiction category in 2008. It also won the 2009 Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
.
Plot summary
The novel is set in the 1980s. Fergus McCann and Uncle Tally find a bog bodyBog body
Bog bodies, which are also known as bog people, are the naturally preserved human corpses found in the sphagnum bogs in Northern Europe. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have retained their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area...
of a small girl near the Ireland-UK border. At the same time, Fergus is studying for his A-Level physics. He makes friends with Owain, one of the border guards, during one of his morning runs across the border. When he goes back to the site of the bog child, Fergus meets Cora and Felicity O'Brien, a girl his age and her archaeologist mother. Fergus named the bog body "Mel". He goes to Long Kesh
Maze (HM Prison)
Her Majesty's Prison Maze was a prison in Northern Ireland that was used to house paramilitary prisoners during the Troubles from mid-1971 to mid-2000....
prison with his mother to meet his brother, Joe, who has been incarcerated as a political prisoner because of his involvement with the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
.
He has joined his friends on a hunger strike
1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
in protest to free Ireland from The Troubles
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
. After lifting Mel's body from the site, the excavation team, including Fergus and Cora, find that Mel has a noose around her neck. A flashback shows Mel and her family struggling to meet loan repayments. Fergus was asked by Michael Rafters to ferry packets across the border in an attempt to end his brother's hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
. Fergus and Cora share their accidental first kiss but begin dating afterwards. After his final A-level exam, physics, Fergus and his family visit his brother in prison to find him gaunt-looking. He gets drunk and dreams about Mel talking to Rur, her love interest. When he wakes up, Cora informs him that Mel was a dwarf
Dwarfism
Dwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
. Fergus allows Cora and her mother to stay over at his place due to an appointment with a professor about Mel.
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" ,...
reveals that Mel lived around AD 80. After a bombing is shown on the news, Fergus begins to suspect the packets he has been ferrying. He opens them in front of Owain to see condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s and contraceptive pills. Joe falls into a coma after 50 days of fasting. After a heated argument between Fergus and his parents they agree to put him on the drip
Intravenous therapy
Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the infusion of liquid substances directly into a vein. The word intravenous simply means "within a vein". Therapies administered intravenously are often called specialty pharmaceuticals...
. Through a series of dreams, Fergus sees the events leading to Mel's death with Rur stabbing her at her request because she did not want to "feel the noose" around her neck. It is also found out at the end that Fergus' Uncle Tally actually is a local bomb-maker, nicknamed Deus, meaning god.
Inspiration
Dowd says that her inspiration for the book was the 1981 Irish hunger strike1981 Irish hunger strike
The 1981 Irish hunger strike was the culmination of a five-year protest during The Troubles by Irish republican prisoners in Northern Ireland. The protest began as the blanket protest in 1976, when the British government withdrew Special Category Status for convicted paramilitary prisoners...
. She says that BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Timewatch
Timewatch
Timewatch is a long-running British television series showing documentaries on historical subjects, spanning all human history. It was first broadcast on 29th September 1982 and is produced by the BBC, the Timewatch brandname is used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual...
was an "inspirational programme on recent discoveries of bog people in Ireland". She also mentions "the classic The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved by P. V. Glob
Peter Glob
Peter Vilhelm Glob , also P.V. Glob, was a Danish archaeologist who worked as the Director General of Museums and Antiquities of the state of Denmark and was also the Director of the National Museum in Copenhagen...
" in the same context.
Reception
Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
picked Bog Child as one of the "Best Books of 2008". Bog Child was longlisted for the 2008 Guardian Award
Guardian Award
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a prominent award for works of children's literature by British or Commonwealth authors, published in the United Kingdom during the preceding year. The award has been given annually since 1967, and is decided by a panel of authors and the...
. It won the 2009 Carnegie Medal in Literature. It was longlisted for the 2009 Manchester Book Award
Manchester Book Award
The Manchester Book Award is a project run in Manchester, UK, organised by School Services at the Manchester Library & Information Service; it is funded by the Working Neighbourhoods Fund. The project is currently in its fourth year....
. It was winner of the 2009 Bisto Book of the Year Awards
Bisto Book of the Year Awards
The Bisto Book of the Year Awards are literary awards presented annually in the Republic of Ireland to writers and illustrators of books for children and young people. The Awards are run by Children's Books Ireland and are open to authors and illustrators born or resident in Ireland; books may be...
. It was listed as one of Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
's Best Book of the Year for the children's fiction category in 2008. It was listed by Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus . Kirkus serves the book and literary trade sector, including libraries, publishers, literary and film agents, film and TV producers and booksellers. Kirkus Reviews is published on the first and 15th of each month...
as one of the best young adult books of 2008. It was listed as one of Edgar Award
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards , named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America...
's best young adult novel in 2009.
Meg Rosoff from The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
commends Dowd for being "incapable of a jarring phrase or a lazy metaphor. Her sentences sing; each note resonates with an urgent humanity of the sort that cannot be faked". Nicolette Jones from The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
comments that the book is " psychologically and historically convincing, showing the impact of politics on domestic life". Booktrust Children's Books commends Fergus for being "an immensely likeable character whose story, along with that of the bog child, will long stay with those who read it". Meg Rosoff comments that the novel is "about questions of life and death".