| The Speckled People: A Memoir of a Half-Irish Childhood Contributor(s): Hamilton, Hugo (Author) |
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ISBN: 0007156634 ISBN-13: 9780007156634 Publisher: Harper Perennial OUR PRICE: $12.59 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2004 Annotation: "We wear Aran Sweaters and Lederhosen. We are forbidden from speaking English. We are trapped in a language war. We are the Speckled People." In one of the most original memoirs to emerge in years, Hugo Hamilton tells the haunting story of his German-Irish childhood in 1950s Dublin. His Gaelic-speaking, Irish nationalist father rules the home with tyranny, while his German-speaking mother rescues her children with cakes and stories of her own struggle against Nazi Germany. Out on the streets of Dublin is another country, where they are taunted as Nazis and subjected to a mock Nuremberg trial. Through the eyes of a child, this rare and shockingly honest book gradually makes sense of family, language, and identity, unlocking at last the secrets that his parents kept in the wardrobe. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs - Biography & Autobiography | Cultural, Ethnic & Regional - General - Biography & Autobiography | Literary Figures |
| Dewey: B |
| Physical Information: 0.78" H x 5.39" W x 8.05" (0.61 lbs) 298 pages |
| Themes: - Ethnic Orientation - Irish |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: We wear Aran Sweaters and Lederhosen. We are forbidden from speaking English. We are trapped in a language war. We are the Speckled People. In one of the most original memoirs to emerge in years, Hugo Hamilton tells the haunting story of his German-Irish childhood in 1950s Dublin. His Gaelic-speaking, Irish nationalist father rules the home with tyranny, while his German-speaking mother rescues her children with cakes and stories of her own struggle against Nazi Germany. Out on the streets of Dublin is another country, where they are taunted as Nazis and subjected to a mock Nuremberg trial. Through the eyes of a child, this rare and shockingly honest book gradually makes sense of family, language, and identity, unlocking at last the secrets that his parents kept in the wardrobe. |
Contributor Bio(s): Hamilton, Hugo: - In his first novel since the bestselling memoir The Speckled People, Hugo Hamilton has created a truly compelling story of lost identity and a remarkable reflection on the ambiguity of belonging. |