ESTHER'S ALTAR

by Paul Smith ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

A novel of compassion and great violence takes place in a Dublin tenement during Easter week- 1916, but the inhabitants of this tenement are less concerned with the abortive rebellion swirling about them than with their own chronic battles against loneliness, poverty and each other. Among the characters whose lives come to crisis-often horribly- are John Goss, a young rebel hunted to his death; his gentle sister, Mollo; a dreadful child Janey who meets a worse end; Ba Fay, a genuinely kind, one-legged man who divides his love between three women; and Christina Swords, a tormented, middle-aged woman. Much of this sex and violence seems to have been included merely to sell the book- but for all that it is explicit and painful, it is not really offensive. The author obviously cares both for people and for writing- but his book faces certain limitations in its audience appeal, both its subject and its setting.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Abelard-Schuman

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1959

Categories: FICTION