'Gripping' Margaret Atwood 'Captivating' Louis de Bernières 'Magnificent' Alexander McCall Smith In 1930, a young man, torn apart by his illegal desire, stands on a deserted Scottish beach. Wystan H. Auden is only twenty-four and longing to be a great poet; longing too, for someone who understands him. He scribbles his telephone number on a piece of paper, puts it in an empty milk bottle, and flings it into the sea. Decades later, Dora Fielding stands on the same beach, lost and desperate. Struggling to cope alone with her baby and suffocating in the small town, she yearns for connection. This is when she finds the message in the bottle. And calls the number. What happens next is a breathtaking leap of faith that rejoices in the power of the human imagination.

As a member of the Kimmage Garrison (comprised of exiles from England) WILLE MacNAMEE fought in the General Post Office in the 1916 EASTER RISING. Through a strange quirk of fate he was one of the very few volunteers from that garrison to survive. Meanwhile, in Parnell Street (around the corner from the G.P.O.) while the City of Dublin burned, the widow MARY O'DWYER, grappled with hoards of stockpiling customers in her FAMILY DAIRY. Until shortages and the threatening flames forced its closure. Thankfully the dairy escaped unharmed. And Mary thanked the Good Lord for his blessings which included the non involverment of any of her seven offsprings in the Rising. However, on the day of the surrender two incidents associated with the RISING brought immeasurable sorrow to Mary and her family. Later as a P.O.W. in the Frongoch Camp in Wales, Wille became friendly with Mary's son, Peter. As members of the IRB (The Irish Replican Brotherhood) both men joined Collins' secret 'net work.' Shortly afterwards Peter introduced Willie to his two younger sisters, NANCY and JANE, when they came to visit from Dublin. For Willie and Jane it was love at first sight. During the rest of their stay in Frongoch, Willie and Peter, together with many other nationalists, became immersed in Collins' secret plans to wage guerilla warfare in Ireland after their release, which occurred on the 22nd December. However, Willie's clandestine association with Collins afterwards caused great unhappiness in his romance with Jane. Foremost was the mother's intolerance and prejudice against the renegade republican, Willie, keeping company with her daughter. Eventually Willie had to make a choice.