Long Way Home

Overview

A Long Way Home is a dramatic and tension-filled fictional story that explores the relationship between the English and the Irish in the late nineteenth century. It provides a fascinating insight into the issues created when those looking for conciliation come into conflict with those relying on confrontation in the struggle for Irish independence.

Plot and Characters

The book traces the experiences of Paul Doherty, an Irish immigrant. In a story that raises important issues of race, class, religion, sex, violence, and secret societies, Doherty struggles to look for conciliation rather than confrontation, bringing him into conflict with his great friend and fellow Irishman, Will, who is a member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

Thematic Elements

The theme of confrontation and conciliation continues through the relationships Doherty has with the English arch racist Maurice Whitehouse and the English philanthropist William Harding. The book also draws upon comparisons between life in rural Ireland and the dark streets of an English industrial town of the late nineteenth century as it builds to a powerful conclusion of romance and violence.