Friend or Foe: 1916: Which side are you on?

by Brian Gallagher

Overview

It’s time to choose: friendship, family or loyalty to the cause.

When Emer Davey saves her neighbour Jack Madigan from drowning, it seems that they will be friends forever. But eight months later, they find themselves on opposite sides in a life-or-death struggle, as Dublin is torn apart by the Easter Rising.

Emer’s father is an officer in the Irish Volunteers who believes that armed rebellion is the only way to gain independence from Britain. His daughter has inherited his passion and is determined to help the rebels in any way she can.

Jack’s dad is a sergeant in the Dublin Metropolitan Police. They share a deep respect for the law and are sure that Home Rule can be achieved through peaceful politics and helping with the war effort.

These two young friends find their loyalties challenged as the terrifying reality of war sets in – and the Rising hits closer to home than either could have imagined.

'Beautiful writing' Sunday Independent on Stormclouds

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781847176318
Publisher:	Irish American Book Company
Publication date:	05/16/2015
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

BRIAN GALLAGHER was born in Dublin. He is a full-time writer whose plays and short stories have been produced in Ireland, Britain and Canada. He has worked extensively in radio and television, writing many dramas and documentaries.

Brian is the author of four adult novels, and his other books of historical fiction for young readers are One Good Turn and Friend or Foe – both set in Dublin in 1916; Stormclouds, which takes place in Northern Ireland during the turbulent summer of 1969; Secrets and Shadows, a spy novel that begins with the North Strand bombings during the Second World War; Taking Sides, about the Irish Civil War; Across the Divide, set during the 1913 Lockout, Arrivals, a time-slip novel set between modern and early-twentieth-century Ontario, and Pawns, set during Ireland’s War of Independence. Brian lives with his family in Dublin. His latest book, Spies, is a sequel to Pawns.

Find out more about Brian's books at briangallagherwriter.com

Editorial Reviews

2015-08-26
Friends from opposite sides unite during Ireland's Easter Rising, 1916. Twelve-year-olds Emer and Jack are part of a gang of children growing up on the same middle-class street in Dublin. They share a platonic but very close friendship despite their families' radically different political views. Emer's father, an officer in the rebel group the Irish Volunteers, strongly supports the cause of Irish independence from Great Britin, while Jack's father, a Dublin police officer, believes Ireland should remain loyal to the crown. Irish casualties in what is seen as an English fight—World War I—add stress to both sides, and on Easter Monday, 1916, Emer's father joins in armed battle against Jack's. Emer proudly joins the Volunteers as a runner—until she learns that Jack's dad has been captured and is slated to die. Gallagher floats between Jack's and Emer's points of view, carefully and somewhat leisurely painting a nuanced portrait of the arguments for and against Home Rule. This occupies the first two-thirds of the book, which takes place over five months, which then switches into action mode for the last 60 pages, which take place over two days. He lets readers draw their own conclusions about the political issues while showing that friendship remains more important than law. A lovely and well-written novel whose appeal stateside may be limited by American readers' unfamiliarity with this historic event. (Historical fiction. 8-14)

Kirkus Reviews