Saturday 16 August 2014

Review ~ The Blood Dimmed Tide by Anthony Quinn

Published by No Exit Press
Oldcastle Books
October 2014
"To make contact with a ghost you must be prepared to relinquish the very idea of your own existence"

Blending together fact and fiction, this book explores the concept of life after death, and of the unbreakable ties which bind us together. Using the writer, W B Yeats as his protagonist, and his fame as one of Ireland’s most literary figures, gives credence to a journey into the mysteries and vagaries of the occult.

The story unfolds as Yeats returns to Ireland in 1918, and whilst this is a time of great political unrest, it is also a time of great personal change for Yeats, and his investigation into the supernatural leads him to seek out the services of an apprentice ghost catcher. Their perilous journey along Ireland’s untamed west coast, in company with a restless ghost, forms the core of the story.

Initially, I struggled with the novel, as having no real knowledge of either Yeats or of the Irish situation in 1918, I didn't warm to the idea of the story, but about a third of the way into the novel and the story starts to emerge and becomes an interesting account of life in the early part of the twentieth century. The author has a confident style of writing which has realistic literary feel to it, and he uses intricate descriptions of both Irish history, and of its wild and beautiful coastline, to good effect. The unusual story of W B Yeats and his wife, Georgie strikes a chord and adds a very personal touch.

Overall, I thought this was an interesting and well written novel which looks at the bizarre craze for the occult that was rife during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, and which combines this with the history and political uncertainty of a proud nation undergoing great change.


My thanks to Real Readers and No Exit Press for my advance copy of this book.


This book is published on the 23rd October 2014 
by 
No Exit Press 
an imprint of Oldcastle Books




***Irish Book Launch 20th November***


Join Anthony at No Alibis Bookstore in Belfast

on Thursday 20th November at 7pm.

Absolutely free event - no tickets needed.



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