The Blood Upon the Rose [Kindle Edition]

Tim Vicary (Author)

Book Description

Ireland in 1919 is seething with violence, tension and divided loyalties - and so is the heart of the beautiful, wilful heiress Catherine O'Connell-Gort. For Catherine, by heritage, is a glittering symbol of British rule and oppression - yet by inclination she is a traitor to her class. A fervent supporter of Sinn Fein, she is also the secret lover of Sean Brennan, an IRA volunteer who is being hunted by the police for terrorism and murder.

When the British government decides to meet terror with terror, Catherine finds herself in a position of even greater conflict. Her father, a colonel in British Military Intelligence, recruits Major Andrew Butler, battle-scarred war hero and Irish landlord, to assassinate IRA leader Michael Collins. He also decides that the dashing major would make the perfect husband for his headstrong daughter ...

In a violent climax of passion, guilt and betrayal, while her country hurtles towards civil war, Catherine faces and a agonising choice as she makes her final, fateful decision.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Tim Vicary writes well. He has mastered the history of the period, empathises with problem, race, and place, and strings the whole thing together in a quite creditable airport-compatible entertainment in the style of Archer, Seymour, and Uris. Whatever one thinks of such writing, those are no mean practitioners to be reminded of by a first novel. Vicary will be heard from again.' 
Tim Pat Coogan, The Irish Times, 15th August 1992.

'A love story with a realistic, historical background.'
Manchester Evening News, 20th October 1993

'An exciting story of plot and counter-plot and of a doomed love. It paints a realistic picture of life in Ireland after the first war, the consequences of which we are experiencing today.'
Dillons News Sept-Oct 1992.

'The Blood Upon the Rose presents a different slant to the IRA with a heart-rending Romeo and Juliet tale spun against a background of the Troubles in 1919 Ireland. Young, beautiful and headstrong heiress Catherine O'Connell-Gort has a father in Military Intelligence, and a dashing boyfriend in the IRA. A recipe for instant, tragic, historical romance.'
City Limits August-September 1993.

'A love story within a political thriller that echoes the problems and tragedies of today.'
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 30th October 1993.

From the Author

I'm very fond of this book. It was my first full-length novel, published in 1992 when I was teaching and learning quite a lot about the history of Ireland, and the roots of the Troubles and terrorism which were so important to British and Irish people at that time. It was published in hardback and paperback and sold quite well, and on re-reading it today I think it's as fresh and exciting as ever, and definitely deserves a new outing in the Kindle edition.

Sadly, the book's main characters face ideals and dilemmas almost identical to those which confront terrorists and security men and women today. It's the technology that changes, not the way people behave. And young love, surely, was once as beautiful and painful for our great grandparents, as it is now for us and our children.

Product Details

• File Size: 634 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1481906437
• Publisher: White Owl (July 26, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005ET2050
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,025 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Up All Night March 14, 2012

By Budedy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Catherine is a wicked little wench. Andrew introverted, mysterious, scarred. Sean tragic character. All very well crafted. I really could not put the book down. It carried me right along all night to the surprising conclusion. 5 stars.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Blood Upon The Rose is A Wonderful Story. March 29, 2012

By Cher22

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I wish I could have read this book many years ago. This is a historical novel but I really learned a lot about what the issues were of the rebellion of the Irish against the English and what it was all about. Growing up I frequently heard that the IRA was in Ireland rebelling and blowing up a lot of things but I couldn't understand it. I also heard many times that it was a war of religions. I know both of these are true but I never heard that the heart of the matter was to free Ireland.

While reading this novel I took time to look up many things and read on the internet about the principal people and why they were rebelling.

We in America are so proud of our Freedom. I wish many nations of the world were able to gain their Freedom too.

Now, back to the book. This was a really excellent story. I would recommend this book to all who enjoy historical novels and to all who want to understand a little more about the Irish whose cry has always been for Freedom! I think the internal struggles the girl goes through is representative of
the turmoil of the people who are caught up in the struggles.
There is pain and anger and death, but there is beauty too. There are also many surprises in the book. I read it from cover to cover in one night as the story really drew me in.

I would like to say Thank You to the author for his wonderful story.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Deeply Moving July 21, 2012

By jennytwist

Format:Kindle Edition

Catherine O'Connell-Gort, the only surviving child of Sir Jonathan O'Connell-Gort had always been wild and reckless. When other girls of her age and class were 'coming out' as débutantes, she insisted on going to university to study medicine. And it was there that she met Sean Brennan - handsome, charming... and an active member of the nascent Irish Republican Army.
Catherine's father is desperately taking a stand for the old regime against the I R A murderers and rebels who are killing policemen in the street. And his task is made next to impossible because all the Irish institutions - the police force, the civil service, even the post office - have been infiltrated by Sinn Féin spies, and the Irish people look the other way. Nobody ever sees who carries out the murders and the British can do nothing without the I R A knowing their plans. The members of Sinn Féin, however, are not hampered by rules of gentlemanly behaviour. They are in no doubt that they are fighting a war, waged for the independence of their beloved Ireland, and if innocent people are killed in the process, that is the sacrifice that must be paid.

There are many reasons why you might want to read this book, not the least of which is that it describes more vividly and emotively the early days of the I R A than any text book could.
As always in these circumstances it is the little people who get hurt, the policemen with families to support and a pension to worry about, the idealistic young men like Sean Brennan who are recruited by Sinn Féin and turned into killers.

But there are other reasons. This is one of the most poignant love stories I have ever read. I was moved to tears more than once and kept hoping against hope that somehow Catherine and Sean's fragile, doomed love would survive the bloody battlefield that was Ireland in 1919.

And finally, you might choose to read it for the same reason I did. Because you have read Tim Vicary before and recognised him for the superb writer he is. Make no doubt about it, Tim Vicary is a master of his craft. His prose is fluent and beautiful, his characterisation superb, his plots perfectly structured and paced.

When I read the first book I became a fan. With this one I have become an addict.

More About the Author

Hi. My name's Tim Vicary and I'm an author and a university teacher at the Norwegian Study Centre at the University of York, England. I've written three crime/legal thrillers in 'The Trials of Sarah Newby' series, and I'm currently writing a fourth. I've also written four historical novels, two children's books, and about twenty graded readers for foreign learners of English in the Oxford Bookworms series, published by Oxford University Press, two of which, Titanic and The Everest Story, won awards from the Extensive Reading Foundation in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

My legal thriller, A Fatal Verdict, was awarded a B.R.A.G Medallion for an outstanding independently published book in 2012, and in 2013 Bold Counsel won the Awesome Indies Seal of Approval.

I live in the English countryside, near York. When I'm not writing I like horse-riding, cycling, and swimming.

website http://wwww.timvicary.com
blog http://wwww.timvicary.wordpress.com