The Soldier's Farewell

Stephen Ryan, an Irishman who fought for the British in the trenches, is sent to London where negotiations for the Anglo-Irish Treaty are beginning. He leaves behind his brother, Joe, who has been jailed for his actions in the IRA. There are those on both sides who would see the Treaty fail, and Stephen soon finds himself beset by problems - a legal dispute, a blackmail attempt and even a plot to assassinate Winston Churchill.

This is a story about two brothers, played out against the political and military upheavals that racked Ireland in the 1920s.
Alan Monaghan was born in Dublin in 1980. He won the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and the Prize for Emerging Fiction in 2002. The Soldier's Song was his eagerly-awaited first novel, based on the short story that won him these prizes, followed by The Soldier's Return. The Soldier's Farewell completes the trilogy.