Description
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers"The law of dreams is, keep moving."
Few events in history have had the tragic and far-reaching consequences of Ireland's Great Potato Famine. Hundreds of stories have drawn their inspiration from those dark days, but rarely has a work of fiction achieved the beauty of Behrens's novel.
After witnessing the deaths of his family during the blight, it seems inevitable that Fergus, too, will follow them into that place of darkness. Yet for the first time, he ventures beyond the family farm and leaves Ireland for Liverpool, eventually embarking on a dangerous Atlantic voyage to America. No ocean crossing, however, could be more dramatic than the journey Fergus makes from innocence to experience. His search for a new life will introduce him to a world unimaginable to the son of an Irish tenant farmer. Prostitutes and hustlers, gentlemen and thieves - these are the members of Fergus' new family. But it is out of this new world that Fergus finds the three young women he comes to love, and who will ultimately bring Fergus his greatest joy and most profound sorrow.
Vividly re-creating a place and time more than a century old, The Law of Dreams is breathtaking in its attempt to carve art out of history - that it succeeds so brilliantly is testament to Behrens's unique and prodigious skill as a writer. (Holiday 2006 Selection) ISBN:9781841959542
