Hours Of Gladness [Paperback]

Thomas Fleming (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Forge (1999)
• ASIN: B000OTM74Y
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,256,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"How do you write a book?" 24 year old Thomas Fleming asked bestselling writer Fulton Oursler in 1951. "Write four pages a day," Oursler said. "Every day except Sunday. Whether you feel like it or not. Inspiration consists of putting the seat of your pants on the chair at your desk." Fleming has followed this advice to good effect. His latest effort, "The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers," is his 50th published book. Twenty three of them have been novels. He is the only writer in the history of the Book of the Month Club to have main selections in fiction and in nonfiction. Many have won prizes. Recently he received the Burack Prize from Boston University for lifetime achievement. In nonfiction he has specialized in the American Revolution. He sees Intimate Lives as a perfect combination of his double talent as a novelist and historian. "Novelists focus on the imtimate side of life. This is the first time anyone has looked at the intimate side of the lives of these famous Americans, with an historian's eyes." Fleming was born in Jersey City, the son of a powerful local politician. He has had a lifetime interest in American politics. He also wrote a history of West Point which the New York Times called "the best...ever written." Military history is another strong interest. He lives in New York with his wife, Alice Fleming, who is a gifted writer of books for young readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Exciting look at early 1980's Irish-Americans, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hours of Gladness: A Novel of the Irish in America (Hardcover)

In 1984, two IRA operatives, Dick O'Gorman and Bill Kilry select Paradise Beach, New Jersey as the ideal spot to smuggle Cuban missiles into the United States. The Jersey shore locale was selected because many of the residents are sympathetic to the cause. However, the Irish-American populace is not quite as supportive of the IRA as they once were. Still the Monaghan crime syndicate agrees to assist the IRA operatives for the sake of the Motherland.

Former Nam marine Mick O'Day serves as a cop in Paradise Beach. Mick still feels the anguish of his betrayal of his men in Nam. The Vietnamese woman who seduced him to get him to sell out also lives in town. Adding to the nuclear meltdown is a priest, who is actually a crazed British secret agent. With the game just starting, none of the players realize what is yet to come as the small community is about to be ripped asunder.

HOURS OF GLADNESS is an exciting look at the relationship between Irish-Americans and the IRA. Though, the story line at times goes a bit too far, the plot provides insight into the late twentieth century splitting of the Irish into two mindsets: being an American first or the love for Eire being foremost. Thomas Fleming turns up the heat, but still finds time to glimpse into the soul of a torn people, circa early 1980's.