She was willing to sacrifice everything for her country.
He was willing to sacrifice everything for her.
'Make a difference in the world,' are the last words Maggie Gilligan's father ever says to her. They form a legacy that she carries in her heart, years later when, at the age of fifteen, she tries to better the lives of Dublin's largely forgotten poor.
Set in Dublin during the outbreak of the first war, this fast paced book had me gripped from the first page to the last. Irish author Denise Deegan has an eye for detail and a talent for creating memorable characters. The feisty Maggie Gilligan is torn between love and duty, her country and her family, and her conflict affects everyone around her.
Many authors have made creative use of letters but these will bring a tear to the eye of the most hardened reader. In turns touching and shocking, this story of unconditional love is a great example of how fiction can reveal the human side of events as complex as the Easter Rising of 1916.
When I next visit Dublin I will feel I have a richer understanding of its history - and the people who made it one of my favourite cities. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time, I’m happy to award Through the Barricades a well-deserved five out of five stars. Highly recommended.
Tony Riches
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Award-winning author Denise Deegan lives in Dublin, Ireland with her family. Her novels have been published by Penguin, Random House, Hachette and Lake Union Publishing. Writing under the pen name Aimee Alexander, Denise's contemporary family dramas have become international best-sellers on Kindle. Under her own name, Denise has written a contemporary Young Adult trilogy, The Butterfly Novels: And By The Way, And For Your Information, And Actually, the second of which was nominated for an Irish Book Award. Denise's most recent novel, Through the Barricades, won the international SCBWI Spark Award for best indie book published in 2016. Find out more at Denise's website www.denisedeegan.com and find her on Facebook and Twittter @denisedeegan.
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