What do you think?
Rate this book
The last coachman
The year is 1916 and Britain is in danger of losing the war for want of ammunition. In Southern Scotland a gigantic munitions factory is being built by thousands of Irish navvies . In Ireland trouble is brewing and armed rebellion against British rule is imminent. Michael Quinlan, a coachman, is laid off due to the war and joins the men building the factory. He sees this as a way of helping his son fighting in Mesopotamia where the shortages are particularly bad. With another son, James, he becomes inadvertently involved in an Irish rebel plot to sabotage the factory and, from the ordered existence of a coachman he is trust into a world of plots and counter-plots.
Paperback
Published January 1, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 1, 2018
Story
The year is 1916, the world is at war and Ireland is seething under the turmoils of a rebellion. Michael Quinlan has lost his job as a coachman owing to the war and decides to join the multitude of Irish 'navvies' building a gigantic munitions factory in Southern Scotland. His eldest son, Jack, has enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery and is fighting in Mesopotamia with scarce ammunition and even scarcer medical help. While James, Michael's second son, unable to join the army himself and wanting to prove his worth is steps away from joining hands with a group of Irish rebels.
The Irish rebels are scheming for an uprising in Ireland, while in parallel plans are being devised to sabotage the factory construction. Forced to join his father for the construction work, James and Michael find themselves caught in the middle of plots and sub-plots.
What I loved
First of all, I loved how the author blended facts with fiction, keeping the Easter Rising as the backdrop. With the use of real historical figures, I found the book to be highly enlightening. Being a fanatic of books set in war periods, I took an immediate liking to the book and was completely hooked by the story.
The characters are spot on, with Michael based on the author's grandfather. The author has brilliantly crafted the turmoils of a family in the middle of war- be it Annie, Michael's wife, constantly living in the fear of receiving a telegram carrying the news of her son's demise at the war front; or the stark contrast in the letters Jack writes to his mother and father, the former masking the brutality of war, while the latter lays bare his struggles; or the internal conflicts of James to want to be proven courageous in front of the world, to be proven equal to his brother.
The writing is quite remarkable. The numerous plots that ran in parallel and the engaging way of writing made the book unputdownable to a great extent.
What didn’t work for me
Though the book had a great start, the last 100 or so pages got quite repetitive and mundane in terms of the plot. The ending lacked creativity and the kind of excitement the beginning of the novel promised. And, often the numerous plots and subplots ended up being confusing.
Conclusion
The Last Coachman by John Michael Doyle is an engaging novel that talks about the lives of people on the various facets of the Easter Rising of Ireland, often based on real people, places and events. It addresses the tragedies of war, its impacts on the lives of common people and debris and rebellions that follow. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone that enjoys reading historical fictions and books set during the war period. If you are someone who is interested in the histories of various countries, you will love this book.
The year is 1916, the world is at war and Ireland is seething under the turmoils of a rebellion. Michael Quinlan has lost his job as a coachman owing to the war and decides to join the multitude of Irish 'navvies' building a gigantic munitions factory in Southern Scotland. His eldest son, Jack, has enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery and is fighting in Mesopotamia with scarce ammunition and even scarcer medical help. While James, Michael's second son, unable to join the army himself and wanting to prove his worth is steps away from joining hands with a group of Irish rebels.
The Irish rebels are scheming for an uprising in Ireland, while in parallel plans are being devised to sabotage the factory construction. Forced to join his father for the construction work, James and Michael find themselves caught in the middle of plots and sub-plots.
What I loved
First of all, I loved how the author blended facts with fiction, keeping the Easter Rising as the backdrop. With the use of real historical figures, I found the book to be highly enlightening. Being a fanatic of books set in war periods, I took an immediate liking to the book and was completely hooked by the story.
The characters are spot on, with Michael based on the author's grandfather. The author has brilliantly crafted the turmoils of a family in the middle of war- be it Annie, Michael's wife, constantly living in the fear of receiving a telegram carrying the news of her son's demise at the war front; or the stark contrast in the letters Jack writes to his mother and father, the former masking the brutality of war, while the latter lays bare his struggles; or the internal conflicts of James to want to be proven courageous in front of the world, to be proven equal to his brother.
The writing is quite remarkable. The numerous plots that ran in parallel and the engaging way of writing made the book unputdownable to a great extent.
What didn’t work for me
Though the book had a great start, the last 100 or so pages got quite repetitive and mundane in terms of the plot. The ending lacked creativity and the kind of excitement the beginning of the novel promised. And, often the numerous plots and subplots ended up being confusing.
Conclusion
The Last Coachman by John Michael Doyle is an engaging novel that talks about the lives of people on the various facets of the Easter Rising of Ireland, often based on real people, places and events. It addresses the tragedies of war, its impacts on the lives of common people and debris and rebellions that follow. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone that enjoys reading historical fictions and books set during the war period. If you are someone who is interested in the histories of various countries, you will love this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review