THE ISLANDER

About the Book

Rupert Carr has enjoyed an idyllic childhood growing up on a small island off the north coast of Ireland. When at sixteen he goes to stay with his aunt and uncle in County Tyrone, to complete his schooling, Rupert meets and falls for Eilish, a perceptive and uninhibited convent girl. Through her he is drawn into the nascent civil rights’ movement and brought face to face with the political reality of the Six Counties when their peaceful protest march comes under vicious attack from loyalists with the tacit approval of the RUC. It is the beginning of the Troubles. Rupert flees to England but is soon made aware of the injustice that exists there too and is attracted to Fenella and her radical student circle. Finally Rupert must prove himself in a decisive action against the Establishment …

About the Author

John Kerr McMillan is an Irish writer resident in England. His previous four novels have received high praise for their ‘fine, powerful and detailed observation’ (Danny Morrison), ‘gripping narrative, brilliant episodes and descriptions of rural Ireland’ (Edward Upward) and ‘vitality of language, with a lovely lyricism and good writing which seems to come straight from the heart’ (Philip Callow).