Famine (novel)
Encyclopedia
Famine is a novel by Irish
writer Liam O'Flaherty
published in 1937. Set in the fictionally named Black Valley in the west of Ireland
during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the novel tells the story of three generations of the Kilmartin family.
In a review for the Irish Times, author John Broderick
said of the novel's character: "Mary Kilmartin (the heroine) has been singled out by two generations of critics as one of the great creations of modern literature. And so she is."
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
writer Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty
Liam O'Flaherty was a significant Irish novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Irish literary renaissance, born August 28, 1896, died September 7, 1984.-Biography:...
published in 1937. Set in the fictionally named Black Valley in the west of Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
during the Great Famine of the 1840s, the novel tells the story of three generations of the Kilmartin family.
In a review for the Irish Times, author John Broderick
John Broderick (writer)
-Biography:Broderick was born in Athlone, Ireland, in 1924. Apart from a year or two spent in Paris and Rome, he lived most of his life in the Irish Midlands, except for his last eight years when he relocated to Bath, England...
said of the novel's character: "Mary Kilmartin (the heroine) has been singled out by two generations of critics as one of the great creations of modern literature. And so she is."
Character list
- Brian Kilmartin - Aged 71 at novel's start, he is a tenant farmer with land in the Black Valley. He was a migratory worker as a young man until he acquired his land from Thomsy Hynes.
- Martin Kilmartin - Aged 25 at novel's start, he is Brian's oldest surviving son.
- Mary Kilmartin - Aged 19 at the novel's start, she is the wife of Martin. A beautiful woman with shining, black hair, she is the daughter of a weaver named Barney Gleeson.
- Thomsy Hynes - In his early 50s at novel's start, he is the brother-in-law of Brian Kilmartin. At the age of 8, upon his parents' death, he had surrendered his land to Brian Kilmartin, his sister Maggie's husband. He has lived with the Kilmartin's since then.