Tenants of Time [Hardcover]

Thomas Flanagan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 29, 1988

This Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection is a panoramic view of three generations of Irish people and passion. The lives of three extraordinary men are bound together by the tides of history in this sweeping tale that includes remarkable historical figures such as Oscar Wilde and Disraeli.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Eagerly awaited by readers of The Year of the French, Flanagan's new novel is even more powerful and engrossing than its predecessor. Set during three pivotal decades of Irish history, the narrative focuses on four men who participate in the short-lived Rising of 1867 and the irrevocable effects on their lives of the battle of Clonbrony Wood. Ned Nolan returns from America to his hometown of Kilpeder to lead the uprising, programmed by the Irish Republican Brotherhoodthe Fenianswhose sacred oath is the motivating obsession of Ned's existence. He enlists the aid of three of Kilpeder's young men: schoolmaster Hugh MacMahon, Robert Delaney, a bright, ambitious shopkeeper's assistant, and Vincent Tully, charming wastrel son of the town's leading merchant. In the aftermath of the aborted rebellion, Ned hardens into a merciless terrorist. Bob becomes a solicitor, an MP in the party of Charles Stewart Parnell and the lover of the wife of the Earl of Ardmor, who "owns" Kilpeder and lives in an estate overlooking the town. Except for Hugh, who is one of the narrators of this moving story, tragedy stalks each of the veterans of Clonbrony Wood. Their intertwined life dramas are played out against the tragedy of Ireland's bloody attempts to shake the yoke of British rule. The novel beautifully integrates the lives of its fictional characters with a striking depiction of the historical circumstances that motivated rebellion against the Crown. Flanagan's portrayal of the texture of Irish society illuminates the roots of perennial conflict. He skillfully describes the rise of Charles Parnell and the success of the Land League campaign, Parnell's disgrace and the destruction of all his accomplishments while the "damned bloody empire . . . settled back to watch the Irish tear ourselves to pieces." As in all tragedy, there is irony: of Irish informers betraying their compatriots; of Parnell's sudden fall just as home rule seems certain; of the way Bob Delaney's life mirrors that of his leader's. Written in musical prose and imbued with an elegiac strain, the novel also eulogizes the innocence, hope and idealism of youth, which, because "we are all the tenants of Time," gives way to the disillusionment and bitter accommodations of one's maturer years. A fine fusion of solid historical and sociological insight with a shrewd, sensitive grasp of character, plus a steady sweep of dramatic momentum incorporating an affecting portrait of a doomed love affair, this is a book one does not want to put down. It is a significant literary achievement, as timely as today's headlines about violence in Ireland. 100,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; BOMC featured alternate.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Flanagan's The Year of the French was a popular, award-winning, and masterful account of the Irish uprising of 1798. This novel deals with the years between the failed Fenian uprising of 1867 and the death of Parnell late in 1891. Parnell and the Land League agitation of the 1880s had a revolutionary effect upon Irish history. Flanagan vividly shows how the personal histories of his many characters both created and were changed by the history of their times. The nature and meaning of history is one of the themes of this book, as is the way history is remembered and recorded. Flanagan has the mind of a philosophical historian, but also the talent of a gifted storyteller. A model of historical fiction. Charles Michaud, Turner Free Lib., Randolph, Mass.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 824 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; 1st edition (January 29, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525246061
• ISBN-13: 978-0525246060
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #491,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best historical novel of nineteenth century Ireland, October 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tenants of Time (Paperback)

Spanning four decades of tense Irish history after the Famine years, Flanagan's tour de force masterfully weaves the life stories of four boyhood friends from County Cork whose adult lives result in different and conflicting choices regarding their roles in Irish society and politics. Together, they join the Fenian brotherhood in 1865, but the revolution's failure pushes them on divergent paths for fuller meaning in their lives. In exploring these developments, Flanagan expertly combines the characters' life challenges with the dramatice course of Irish history in the late Victorian era, presenting vivid depiction of the Fenian assassins, the agrarian struggles of the Land League, the rise and fall of Parnell, and the inevitable growth of Ireland into the modern era. Yet this striking panorama of Irish history never overshadows the rich and complex dynamic of the relationship between Hugh, Robert, Ned and Edward, whose struggles to find fortune and meaning in their world thrusts them into tragic internecine conflict. This is a novel you will never forget, and I would rank it among the best historical novels ever written.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Second Book of Flanagan's Stunning Trilogy of Irish History, September 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Tenants of Time (Hardcover)

"Tenants of Time", Flanagan's book between "Year of the French" and "End of the Hunt", deals with the Parnell era in Irish politics. But it is much more than that. Three men bound together by an act of failed rebellion in their early years, remain tied to one another and their actions on that day while a young historian tries to understand "a single moment in history" represented by that doomed rebellion.

The characters are large and complex, the ideas even bigger and the setting so evocative that you won't want the book to end.

Great literature that is also a great read. I really can't do the book justice. Read the first fifty pages and I bet you can't stop.

One minor complaint: Delaney's circumstances too closely mirrored Parnell's in the O'Shea debacle.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vivid and memorable, February 10, 1998

By 

P. Lozar "plozar" (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Tenants of Time (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, although I found it a less stunning experience than the author's previous novel, "The Year of the French." Once again, he's chosen a little-known incident in Irish history and written about it vividly, with a cast of memorable characters. He depicts the landscape, the people, and the historical setting with a wealth of detail, and both dialogue and descriptions are beautifully expressed. I think the book isn't as strong as its predecessor for two reasons: while "The Year of the French" had one central character whose rise and downfall had the force of Greek tragedy, this novel is built around a group of characters and doesn't seem as strongly focussed. Again, there are two climaxes -- the abortive rebellion, and its consequences many years later -- so I felt rather let down after the first, and the story seemed to lose its momentum for a while, by contrast with the inexorable progression of events in his first novel. Still, it's not only an extremely good historical novel, but a good NOVEL and well worth reading (even if you're not Irish!).