Synopsis:

I consider it a privilege -- although it came as a big surprise to me to learn about it -- that I have written one of the very few novels that exist about the Irish in San Francisco. My Father In The Night was published in hard cover by Mercury House in 1991 and in soft cover by Ballantine Books a year or so later.

Little Bridget and The Flames of Hell is a collection of short stories that carries on that theme. Every story has something to do with the relationship between the Irish-Irish and the Irish-Americans in contemporary San Francisco. This continues to be a very active relationship, since immigrant Irish are once again quite evident in this city. The connection between the two groups is sometimes cantankerous, sometimes hilarious and sometimes extremely poignant.

To find the stories, please go to www.amazon.com and do a search for the individual story titles, which are as follows:

A Happy Accident of Birth

The Bard and The Rose

The Bishop's Tears

For Love of the Pierre Bonnard

Little Bridget and The Flames of Hell

Last Communion

The Other Fella

A Funeral for Sister Finnoula

Peter and the Seven Hats

A Memory of One's Own

Book Excerpt:

There had been an earthquake a few weeks earlier, almost fifty years to the day after the famous one of 1906, in the morning while the children were in school. It was Sister Justine's first, who had arrived some months before from Ireland. The children, accustomed to the earth when it quivered, had had to calm the poor nun down. Gripping her desk as the floor spasmed beneath her, she believed that this was The Day of Judgment, and shouted it out. The children knew better, and succeeded in making her understand after a while that this was just a little one, Sister. Really! Just a little earthquake. We have lots of them, Sister.

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Topics/Categories:

Ireland, Irish in American

Type of Work:

Short Story Collection

Publishers:

Amazon Shorts

Original Published Source:

Amazon Shorts

Purchase From:

Amazon.com

Original Publish Date:

02/01/2008

Formats:

Digital Online