The Killing Snows
The defining Novel of the Great Irish Famine
The snow lay deep and undisturbed. Many of the features of the landscape had disappeared under gentle curves of snow. The two men fought their way back to the Works without their animals. After the hedges gave out, it was almost impossible to follow the line of the road. When they arrived, there were less than twenty people there, and no fires. One man lay in the snow, face down.
This book is fiction. The story that inspired it was not.
In 1990, a box of very old documents was found on a small farm in the west of Ireland. They had been stored for well over a hundred years and told an incredible story of suffering, of love and of courage.
In 1846, a young couple met during the worst days of the Great Irish Famine. The Killing Snows is a way to imagine what led to their meeting and what followed from it.
‘Poweful and compelling’
Sarah Hackett, The Irish Post
‘Famine novel likened to Steinbeck’s Grapes of Wrath.’
‘A vital reminder of the fragility of life, love and survival.’
The Irish Post
Title: The Killing Snows
Author: Charles Egan
ISBN: Paperback 978-1-78132-057-0 / ePub eBook 978-1-78132-058-7
RRP: Paperback £13.99 / eBook £5.99
Category: Fiction / Historical Fiction
229mm x 152mm
418 pages
Extracts from Readers Reviews
Profound, intelligent and factual. Best read in years.
Sweeping fictionalised account of a terrible era in the history of Ireland and Great Britain.
The narrative is relentless, as was the famine which inspired the story.
The author's description drew me into the personal lives of the characters. I love this book and cant wait for a sequel.
I could not put this book down. You will find it gripping and compelling, especially if you are Irish American.
This is the best book that I have read in a long time. The author really makes you feel you are there, living every moment.
There is a consistent suspense sustained about the perils of the famine and the choices it forced people to make.
A way to understand how these men, women and children suffered - bit survived - a true event of horrific proportions.
Couldn't put this book down. Very harrowing to think what the Irish went through. No wonder so many went to America.
This book deserves to be widely known, and should be read by anyone with an interest in the Famine.
This novel gives you a unique feel on family life at this time in Ireland. A quiet but emotional powerful evocation of the experiences of several Irish families during the infamous Irish Potato famine of the 1840's
The only problem with it is trying to put it down. From the south and north of England to the west coast of Ireland, follow the story of the potato famine and fever that tore Ireland apart.
Read more reviews here
