The Canal Bridge: A Novel of Ireland Love and the First World War

About this book

In 1913 before there is a rumor of war in Europe two lifelong friends from Ballyrannel in the Irish midlands Matthias Matt Wrenn and Con Hatchel decide to see the world at the expense of the king of England and join the British army. A year later while en route to India their troop ship is recalled and they find themselves in the slaughterhouse that was World War I. As stretcher bearers the two men witness the horrors of the battlefield and the waste of human life at the Somme Ypres and Passchendaele. Meanwhile back home in Ireland Cons sister and Matts lover Kitty Hatchel yearns for their safe return and reminds them of their carefree childhood on the banks of the local canal as well as their hopes for the future. Brilliantly and movingly narrated as a chorus of voices from the communityMatt Con Kitty and othersThe Canal Bridge tells the story of how the young men take Ballyrannel to war with them and the many ways they bring the wars devastation home. At wars end the Ireland the friends left in 1913 no longer exists for the Rising against the British in 1916 has changed everything. In a land now riven with sectarian tensions and mounting bloodshed unfolds the love story of Matt and Kitty. Skyhorse Publishing as well as our Arcade Yucca and Good Books imprints are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fictionnovels novellas political and medical thrillers comedy satire historical fiction romance erotic and love stories mystery classic literature folklore and mythology literary classics including Shakespeare Dumas Wilde Cather and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.