Book description
We last saw Henry Smart, his leg severed in an accident with a
railway boxcar, crawl into the Utah desert to die - only to be
discovered by John Ford, who's there shooting his latest Western.
The Dead Republic opens in 1951. Henry is returning to
Ireland for the first time since his escape in 1922. With him are the
stars of Ford's latest film, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, and the
famous director himself, who has tried to suck the soul out of Henry
and turn it into Hollywood gold-dust.
Ten years later Henry is in Dublin, working in Ratheen as a school
caretaker. When he is caught in a bomb blast, he loses his leg for the
second time. He is claimed as a hero, and before long Henry will
discover he has other uses too, when the peace process begins in
deadly secrecy...
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of nine
acclaimed novels, one collection of short stories and
Rory & Ita
, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
. His last book,
The Dead Republic
, was the final volume in the Henry Smart trilogy.
