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Launched January 2024
The Public Library, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
Sarah’s Own War
By Anne L. MacDonell
A family drama set against the turbulent backdrop of the Jacobite rising in Scotland. Sarah MacDonell, now eighteen years of age lives in Glen Rowan in the Scottish Highlands. Since her mother’s death in childbirth five years earlier, Sarah has faced many challenges. It is a time of war in Scotland as the Jacobites try to install Bonnie Prince Charles as their rightful king.
Sarah must provide for herself and her younger siblings in desperate times with starvation looming. Sarah falls in love with the dashing young Alistair, who disappears for months on the Prince’s business. When another suitor, Hamish, asks her father for her hand, she finds herself betrothed. Sarah loves both men and finds herself with a dilemma when Alistair returns.
By this time Sarah has earned herself a reputation as a brave, heroic highlander having nursed a wounded clansman back to health. Sarah and her Grannie Morag devised a plan to out fox the English soldiers by setting fire to the Glens, forcing them to retreat and thus preventing the soldiers from advancing any closer. During the harsh winter that followed Sarah was forced to go begging for food for her younger siblings. She went for help to a rich landowner in a neighbouring glen, and although he was helpful, she was forced to fight off his advances, killing the man in the process. The author outlines the full story of survival and hope in the face of hardship, deceit and the force of history. Inspired by family stories passed down through the generations, Author Anne L. MacDonell tells the reader an unforgettable tale of drama and intrigue.
SARAH’S OWN WAR is the second novel by Anne L. MacDonell with more stories from Lochaber.
Delivery within 10 days worldwide
Reviews
Anne L. MacDonell’s storytelling is both engaging and emotive, making this novel a compelling read that resonates with the human spirit’s enduring resilience.
Eldar
GLEN ROWAN
By Anne L. MacDonell
Set in the Rugged Scottish Highlands in 1740, in a glen very few people ever travelled, lived the MacDonell clan. Their life was one of hard daily toil just to survive. From this clan two children would emerge to become Scottish heroes. Thirteen year old Sarah and her eleven year old younger brother Ian Og as he was known would begin their adventure when they were on a rare day trip to the town of Maryburgh accompanied by their uncle Angus. The pair witness two soldiers from the local Fort William, thrashing a boy soldier not much older than themselves.
They instinctively rush to his aid and rescue him from the beating, and the three of them are pursued through the town by the soldiers. Alistair Glic, a fisherman, helps them escape, but he is more than he appears at first. He is, in fact, in the service of Bonnie Prince Charles and the Jacobite army. Before long Sarah and Ian Og find themselves entangled in the events that shaped Scotland’s history. Inspired by family stories passed down through the generations, author Anne L. MacDonell tells us how their lives changed that day and how they would go on to become heroes of Scotland. Their story is one of drama and intrigue, battles, romance and betrayals.
Glen Rowan is her first novel. Available as: Audiobook, Hardback Limited Edition and Paperback version.
Delivery within 10 days worldwide
Reviews
My heroes in this book were young siblings, Sarah and Ian Og. They were very brave against the harsh times they lived in. During their adventures they encountered all sorts of characters, some quite unsavoury. The author is a wonderful storyteller and kept me gripped the whole way through. I can’t wait for more.
Dylan Connors
There were so many parts of the book which I really liked and it is difficult to choose between them. If I am pushed I guess I would have to say I especially liked how Sarah stood up to a bully much older than her and helped to rescue the young boy.
Shane Clifford
I was gripped by the drama and excitement in the story and the courage and bravery of the characters. The novel is descriptive, imaginative and informative in the ways of life in the Scottish Highlands in the 18th century
Mary Donell
I loved how this story unfolded. The story flowed and I appreciated the author’s use of language and the brilliant descriptions of people and scenes. Lots of drama and some hair-raising moments.
Emma O’Brien
I have just finished reading this wonderful book which was gifted to me. I just loved Sarah 13 years of age and her 11 year old brother Ian Og. I can’t wait for the next book which I see from the back of the book takes place five years later when Sarah is 18 and Ian Og is 16.
Maddie Ellis
My favourite character was Sarah, a gutsy, determined young girl of 13, but I also liked her mysterious cousin Alistair who is a few years her senior. Can’t wait to see what happens between these two characters in Book 2 when Sarah is aged 18!
Becky Smyth
FOREVER A ROCK ‘N‘ ROLL KID
By Charlie McGettigan
A NEW EXPERIENCE IN READING – FOREVER A ROCK ‘N’ ROLL KID A Book and a Double Music Album all in one. A Journey through Music, Song and Stories. Read The Book, Scan The 26 Individual QR Codes and Listen Instantly to All the Songs As You Read The Lyrics. Have a Party with Charlie as You Read the Words and Sing Along as Charlie Sings to You on Your Phone. Read this amazing story of life in Ireland during the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, etc. Even if you don’t read you will enjoy the 26 easy listening songs in the book. This book as far as we know is the first of its kind in the world, so hold onto it, it may become a collector’s item one day.
If the past is a foreign country, then Charlie McGettigan is the best of tour guides. His book takes us back to Ballyshannon in the 1950s, avoiding the clichéd golden summers where sweetness and light prevailed. Instead he takes us around the back of the set to show us a ‘warts and all’ view of Irish life in what are laughingly called ‘the good old days,’ where poverty and deprivation were made worse by a dominant clerical presence and an often brutal schooling system that together succeeded in driving many young people away from both religion and education. Charlie pulls no punches but nevertheless manages to avoid being bitter, mixing the hard stories with heart-warming tales of childish fun from the pre-electronic days when we had to make our own.
His stories of the hard work and dedication that brought him musical success give us a snapshot of the heady days of the folk scene in Ireland in the 1970s and the 1980s, when the country seemed to be full of folk and ballad groups vying for a slice of the action. If ever the old adage of achieving overnight success after thirty years of hard graft applied to anybody, it surely applies to Charlie.
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Reviews
Charlie has always been the real deal. There’s laughter and sadness here.
He writes with such depth and honesty that you feel you’re there with him. Charlie brings a soundtrack to the printed words…. Extraordinary!
Marty Whelan RTE Broadcaster
Well done, Charlie, you have captured a world of heady triumphs, backstage happenings and unseen surprises that perpetually rivet the reader. A rich collection of laugh-out-loud and bite-back-tears. Personal stories from the man who has the heart of an artist and the feet of a dancer.
Maxi Entertainer & Broadcaster
This book has got Charlie’s towering presence oozing from every page… and with its unique QR codes dotted along the journey, we get an almost 3D version of Charlie’s career. A most pleasant read set to music! I loved it.
Seamus O’Rourke Author / Storyteller
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