First Annual Literature Gathering
When: May 15, 2011
Where: Joan and Richard Kramer’s Home
While enjoying the delicacies of High Tea the attendees shared not only their literature, but some members who could not attend sent their readings with a friend. Attendees and member who were unable to attend this exchange are encouraged to read books according to the reviews that follow and to become involved in the series chosen this year for members to read; i.e., Irish poet, who happens to live in Dublin, Ireland, Morgan Llywelyn. Among her long list of literary writing she has a five part series that readers plan to chose one, two, or the entire series for discussion next May of next year: 1916, 1921, 1949, 1972, and 1999.
Some attendees wished we could meet oftener than annually. Kate Herman offered to open her home for a November meeting that can prepare members for our long WI winter months when a book, a blanket, and a warm cup of tea opens the mind to a whole new world.
Books and poems were explained accordingly:
Debbie O’Grady: Legend of the Celtic Stone by Michael Phillips.
Mary Kunert: A series of books about Sister Fidelma by Peter Tremayne. Mary has four books while Kate Herman has the entire series.
Kate Herman: A Long Way from Penny Apples by Bill Cullen. {A grandmother’s sage wisdom is woven into the story.}
The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith.
Trinity and Redemption are two books written by Leon Uris.
The Great Famine by John Percival and Ian Gibson. (1998).
Cashelmara by Susan Howatch. A love story.
Sue Mattek: Trinity by Leon Uris. A spellbinder of why the English and Irish hate themselves.
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill.
Joan Brigham: Famous Irish Lives by ???.
Celtic Fables, Legends, and Folklore by John Hickey.
Irish Stories for Christmas by John B. Keane.
Nancy Roehre: Irish History by ??? about cultures, politics and fiction.
Peg Payne: A beautiful poem read as directed by Joan Schwalbe who could not attend. AND:
But They Never Do by ???
Last of the Donkey Pilgrims by Kevin O’Hara.
LuAnn Cleary-Beninghaus: For the Cause of Liberty by Terry Golway about Ireland’s heroes.
The Great Hunger by Cecil Woodham-Smith.
Joan Kramer: The Red-Haired Girl From The Bog: The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit by Patricia Monaghan. Patricia resides in Chicago where she is a professor at DePaul University’s School for New Learning. She presented for CWI attendees in Lake Geneva three years ago.
Yeats and Sligo by Kevin Connolly, with photos by Alan Reevell, clearly maps the CWI route that members traveled during February of 2011.
As explained earlier we CWI Ladies chose to read the following five books by Morgan Llywelyn who is celebrated as the high priestess of Celtic historical fiction and is recognized in Ireland and America as an expert on early Irish history and folklore.
Summary (From the publisher):
Ned Halloran has lost both his parents--and almost his own life--to the sinking of the Titanic. Determined to keep what little he has, he returns to his homeland in Ireland and enrolls at Saint Enda's school in Dublin. Saint Enda's headmaster is the renowned scholar and poet, Patrick Pearse--who is soon to gain greater fame as a rebel and patriot. Ned becomes totally involved with the growing revolution...and the sacrifices it will demand.
Through Ned's eyes, 1916 examines the Irish fight for freedom--inspired by poets and schoolteachers, fueled by a desperate desire for independence, and played out in the historic streets of Dublin against the backdrop of World War I. It is the story of the brave men and heroic women who, for a few unforgettable days, managed to hold out against the might of the British Empire to realize an impossible dream.
Original title: 1916: A Novel of the Irish Rebellion
Summary (From the publisher):
1921 tells the story of the Irish War of Independence and the heartbreaking civil war that followed. Henry Mooney, a reporter for the Clare Champion and the Irish Bulletin, is a self-described "moderate nationalist" who struggles to see the truth in the news of the day, and to report it fairly. Lacking more radical Republican beliefs of his dear friends Ned Halloran and Sile Duffy, Henry reports the political -- and later, bloody -- actions of his fellow Irishman from the ashes of the failed 1916 Rising to the creation of the Irish Free State to the tragic and wide-ranging battles of the Irish Civil War.
wil leave no life untouched -- and no Irish citizen with a dry eye or an untroubled heart.
Format: HardcoverPlace of publication: New YorkPublisher: Forge BooksISBN: 0312867549Dimensions: 9.56 x 6.5 x 1.41Pages: 432 Summary (From the publisher):
1949 tells the story of Ireland's progress as seen through the eyes of one woman, from the bitter aftermath of civil war to the controversial dawn of a modern state. Ursula Halloran, the daughter of a famous revolutionary, comes of age in the turbulent 1920s. An education in Switzerland broadens her world view, but Ireland has become a repressive Catholic state where women are second-class citizens. Married women cannot hold jobs and divorce is illegal.
Fighting against the stifling constraints of church and state, Ursula forges an exciting career in the fledgling Irish radio service. Her life is torn apart when she finds herself caught between two men who love her in very different ways. Refusing to surrender her hard-won independence to marriage, or her illegitimate infant to an orphanage, she flees to Europe to bear her child. There she takes a job with the League of Nations and is caught up in the terrifying outbreak of World War II. Hard decisions and desperate situations stand between her and any hope of returning to the land she loves.
Original title: 1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State
Summary (From the publisher):
Covers the events and social changes of the mid-century in Ireland through the story of the coming-of-age of Barry Halloran, son of Ursula Halloran (the heroine of 1949). Barry moves from patriotic involvement in the IRA, to an aversion to explosives and guns and a career as a photographer, to a final moment of radicalization in the face of the horrifying injustices in Northern Ireland that crystalized on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972.
A chronicle of life in Ireland between 1950 and 1972, through Barry's journey the novel gives a clear understanding of social changes, pressure points, and vivid moments of historical importance. Clear parallels are drawn to the American civil rights movements of the 1960s, which in part motivated the patriotic and oppressed Irish Catholics. At the same time, there is the continuation of the family saga that links all the volumes of this series, and a passionate romance for Barry.
Original title: 1972: A Novel of Ireland's Unfinished Revolution
Summary (From the publisher):
Barry Halloran, strong, clever, and passionately patriotic, who was the central character of 1972, remains central. Now a crippled photojournalist, he marries his beloved Barbara Kavanaugh, and steps back from the armed struggle. Through his work he documents the historic events that take us from the horrific aftermath of Bloody Sunday through the decades of The Troubles to the present.
Original title: 1999: A Novel of the Celtic Tiger and the Search for Peace
The following books were also authored by Morgan Llywelyn:
Collections:
Anthologies:
Novels:
Short Stories:
Series:
Rhubarb Torte
10 tablespoons Powder Sugar
1 cup Margarine
½ cup Nuts vs Oatmeal
Pat into 9x12 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
Topping:
4 Eggs
3 cups Sugar (I used Splenda)
1.5 teaspoons Salt
½ cup Flour
½ teaspoon Vanilla
4 cups Rhubarb
Bake 350 degrees for 35 minutes.
[My torte did not want to set up. I am not sure if this was due to using butter instead of margarine or the Splenda.]