Celtic Night

by Bridget O'Dwyer

A modern retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream, this story of a 15-year-old American girl's experience studying abroad in the Irish countryside borrows elements from Irish folklore and escapist-fantasy fiction. Adjustment to life with an Irish family is hard at first, but she forges a bond with her new school friends when, late one night, they slip out into the surrounding woods and revel with fairy-like creatures at a magical wedding party. Real settings in Ireland provide the backdrop for the story, and the Shakespearean storyline serves well to depict an adolescent's breakthrough from outsider status to membership in an enchanted society.

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2006

About the author

Bridget O'Dwyer is an active high school senior in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Having spent a semester in Ireland, she brings Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream to a modern setting in the small Irish town of Thurles, County Tipperary.

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Flat dialogue and too many grammatical errors kept me from being swept up in this retelling of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[Mckenzie Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a modern retelling of A Midsummer's Night Dream with the New York equivalent of Hermia being 'Sarah'. I quite enjoyed and read through it quickly in a day. It's not the best with grammar and has shallow characters and an unengaging storyline but for sitting and waiting for the repair man to finish working on my car, it was amusing and humorous. I have to say if I was fifteen I wouldn't be able to writing something so exotic and entertaining, so to Bridget, I tip my hat. Probably a great book for beginning readers to start getting hooked although it might teach them bad grammar with all the 'anyways' thrown in there. If it had an editor it would have turned out twice as good as it currently stands.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute romance! =) Loved the whole Irish thing too

[Ruth Jeffers · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author was a high school junior when she wrote this book.