Author Self-Published
Featuring: Jane Winship; James Winship; William Winship
226 pages ISBN: 1475263023 EAN: 9781475263022 Kindle: B00BA2Z69M Paperback / e-Book (reprint) Add to Wish List
An Irish household through the generations is revealed in
this series, which begins in 1850, the days of Gladstone
and Disraeli in THE WINSHIP FAMILY. William
Winship, holder of an Anglo-Irish title and grand house in
County Cork, is a member of the British Parliament and as
we meet him he has just become engaged to Elizabeth, the
prettiest lady in Birmingham, who shares his interest in
plants. However another suitor, Sudbury, promptly
challenges him to a duel; William is a terrible shot.
From this exciting beginning we progress to meet all the
household, including the housekeeper Teresa who is married
to the head grounds keeper Fergus Tobin. The rivalry
between the Northern Irish Sudbury family and the Winships
sours relationships over the years. Between outbreaks of
typhoid and death in childbirth, life is uncertain, and
the
wrangling between Catholic and Anglican clerics never
ceases. Some deft touches are presented to add twists and
we see a young James Winship attending Eton, to be told
that Irish boys possess character defects like laziness.
His only friendship is made with another Anglo-Irish lad,
but he gets training to fend off bullies from a Cork
boxer,
Puncher Daly.
An officer's life in India is included in our tour, polo
playing and gambling, with Lancashire cotton mills buying
indigo from Indian plantations. An American girl of
Irish
origin, Jane Winship, travels equally as far. I note that
the story mainly follows male characters and the wealthy,
but at that time these were the people who could travel
and
who were educated, learnt about the world and influenced
others' lives. The intricacies of Ireland's struggle
towards Home Rule arise, but politics turn to violent
means
when Britain's reluctance to release its profitable colony
is revealed.
Michael McCarthy, has clearly studied the history of the
day to present a
fictitious account of life during those turbulent times.
Those readers who wish to follow political debates closely
may do so, while those just wanting a good yarn can skip
the debates and follow the actions and choices of our
characters. THE WINSHIP FAMILY will reward re-
reading and serves as a fine introduction to the lively
trilogy.
Historical fiction; family saga. A two volume book
covering the lives of James Winship and his children in
England and Ireland during the turbulent struggle for
Irish independence, from 1852 to 1923. In Volume I, James
Winship's life is chronicled from his early days, as an
adopted Irish-born son of an Anglo-Irish lord in County
Cork, Ireland, to his steady rise as a decorated war hero
in British India and, ultimately, his succession to
Charles Stewart Parnell, as leader of the Irish party in
the House of Commons in the late 1890s. Volume II covers
the life of his children: his son in British India and
World War I, and his daughter in New York City, England,
and Ireland. Volume I was first published in 1995 but was
rewritten by the author in 2012. Volume II will be
available in spring 2013.
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