Deirdre

by Madeleine Poland

Raised to become the bride of the King of Ulster, Deirdre instead flees with Naoise, champion of the Red Branch Knights. Based on Celtic legend.

166 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

Reviews

[Nelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This exquisite retelling of the well-known 9th century Irish legend of Deirdre of the Sorrows was fascinating to me as a preteen. What a thrill to rediscover that it still fascinates, when I recently purchased the copy discarded by my old junior high at a book sale.

After almost 40 years Deirdre had remained in my memories as a wonderful read and well beyond the average youth oriented book in quality. And I was correct - it joins those books (Lord of the Rings, Little Women, the Harry Potter series, Watership Down) that are a joy to reread at any age, and a pleasure to introduce to others.

Lyrical in its celebration of youth, undying love, and unsurpassed yet fatal beauty, the novel pleases on several levels: as a love story, as a suspense novel, and in the simplicity of its prose which nevertheless paints elegant word pictures of the colorful wildlife and landscapes of ancient Ireland and Scotland. The suspense of the story is well-sustained despite the prophetic foreshadowing of the tragic ending.

An outstanding goodread.

[Jennifer Heise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for the book about Deidre of the Seven Sorrows that captivated my imagination as a middle schooler, but this doesn't appear to be it. There's too much inevitability and not enough attempts by Deirdre to avoid entangling others in her fate.

[Hana Ehab]

idk.

[Margareth8537 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Madeleine Polland writes a very enjoyable book, about someone we know of through Irish legend.

[Deirdre Hackeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for Little-Girl-Deirdres everywhere ♡ (Celtic Legend)