One For Sorrow, Two For Joy, by John Killeen - Signed Copy
SIGNED FIRST EDITION Hi Everybody; my name is John and over the years I have written for radio, magazines and newspapers. I have now written a memoir that has so far got several 5-star reviews on Amazon. I am based near Abbeyleix, Co. Laois and the book is a memoir which is about growing up in Athlone in the 1950s. Cost of €20 includes postage to anywhere in Ireland!
SIGNED FIRST EDITION
Athlone in the 1950s – Guinness barges steam up the Shannon with their precious cargo; turf boats chug along the canal towards Dublin; markets bring life to the streets as the farmers sell their livestock and vegetables while their wives barter eggs with the snooty shopkeepers. It is the era of Éamon de Valera and Archbishop McQuaid, when ‘fallen’ women are condemned to the Magdalene Laundries, and droves of hopeful emigrants are making their way to Kingstown Harbour, on their way to far-off lands. But for young John Killeen, Athlone is a whole world in itself, full of opportunities for adventure and colourful characters who take him away from hostility of home. There’s no-nonsense Mrs Webb in her crumbling mansion, whose love of horses and indomitable spirit are infectious; the Crotty sisters, who oversee the moral standards of the town; Mr Foy, whose toyshop inspires envy and hope in every child; and the seventh son of a seventh son, whose powers of healing are liberally applied.Most important of all, there is Peggy, the Killeen’s housekeeper, who is John’s constant source of affection as he navigates a childhood that is at turns both magical and threatening. She is there when his father turns violent, when he falls for young Steffi next door, and whenever he needs his faith in humankind restored.One for Sorrow, Two for Joy is an enchanting and searingly honest memoir of an Ireland long gone but well remembered, of a time that remains both part of what we are and part of what we left behind.
Cost of €20 for your signed, first edition book, includes postage to anywhere in Ireland!
Overall Rating
5.00Reviews
- May 22, 2022
John Maxwell O'Brien 5.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Memoir Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2020 Verified Purchase What a marvelous gift I gave to myself when I purchased this book. It chronicles seven formative years in a boy’s life who grew up in the town of Athlone in Ireland during the early 50s. John-John’s coming of age is described with such skill, sensitivity and universal appeal, that the present writer, who grew up on the streets of New York City during the same years, can completely identify with the main character and the ordeals, awakenings and inner turmoil he struggled with during those halcyon days. There’s a cavalcade of interesting characters here, people we all know by other names, each described with just enough detail that we not only know what they look like, but can feel their presence. The disturbed and occasionally violent father, a responsible but distant mother, a nanny who embodies human virtue, the idolized girl next door, all there before us in this literary smorgasbord. This is a slice of life with a pulse and an intelligence. Woven into the fabric are threads of Irish history, politics, religion, bigotry, alcoholism and domestic violence. Along the way we learn a great deal about the town of Athlone - including the etymology of the name - I am putting it on my itinerary, when I next set foot on the auld sod. Young John-John, the main character in this fictionalized memoir, is told at one point, “You’re a biteen [little bit] of a story teller, all right.” John Killeen grew up to be more than that - I’d say an accomplished raconteur. Bravo!
Review by - John Killeen
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Hi Everybody; my name is John and over the years I have written for radio, magazines and newspapers. I have now written a memoir that has so far got several 5-star reviews on Amazon; it would make the perfect Christmas present!
I am based near Abbeyleix, Co. Laois and the book is a memoir is about growing up in Athlone in the 1950s.