Shadows on our Skin (Paperback, New Ed)

This novel focuses on a family in Derry in the 1970s, set against a background of rancour and conflict. Life in the Logan household never seems to be comfortable or easy, and young Joe Logan, with his head full of poetry, wishes he could escape elsewhere. Joe's dad is an embittered, crippled and spiky ex-Provo, who dwells on past glories and rejoices when he hears of the death of a British soldier. Joe's brother Brendan has been away working in England, but, to the disgust of their mother, he returns hoping to help the cause. She sees history repeating itself, and what with the disillusion of her marriage, the violence, the shootings and the eternal raids and lifting of suspects, she's worn out. Fiercely protective of Joe, she wants him to have no part in the brutal events that are happening daily. However, inevitably Joe gets drawn into his brother's affairs and discovers that despite his hatred for his father, family loyalty is bred in the bone. When Joe meets Kathleen, a young, transient teacher, to him she represents another world far away from Derry. In his confusion over his feelings for her, he embarks on a course of action that brings his childhood to an abrupt end and has unpleasant consequences for all concerned. The dialogue in Jennifer Johnston's rites-of-passage novel sings out so clearly and convincingly that the reader is effortlessly drawn into the story. Haunting and disturbing, this novel describes the pathos and the emotional cost of the Troubles at a very human level. (Kirkus UK)

Derry in the 1970s: teenager Joe Logan is growing up in the teeth of the Troubles, having to cope with embittered parents, a brother who's been away and come back with money and a gun in his pocket, harsh school teachers, and the constant awareness of the military presence in the background. Central to the story is the friendship that tentatively grows up between Joe and Kathleen, a young school-teacher who brings a fresh perspective to his familiar world.

General

Imprint:	Headline Review
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	March 2002
Authors:	Jennifer Johnston
Dimensions:	199 x 131 x 15mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	224
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-7472-6791-1
Categories:	Books > Fiction > General & literary fiction > Modern fiction
LSN:	0-7472-6791-X
Barcode:	9780747267911

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