Why a Booktrail?
1960s: Are you ready and are you brave enough to visit St Brigid’s Island….?
The Stolen Child
What you need to know before your trail
St Brigid’s is a remote island off the west coast of Ireland. It is a barren place and its small community is dwindling. But according to rumour it is a magical place, home to a healing well.
Two sisters, Rose and Emer, have resisted the call of the mainland. Rose is beautiful, blessed with love and many children. Emer is unlovely and, worse still, she is cursed – by the strange currents that run through her fingers.
When a dazzling stranger alights on St Brigid’s, she is shunned. She has come in search of a miracle, and the islanders keep their secrets close. But gradually she insinuates her way into the sisters’ lives, and even Emer opens her heart.
Little do they realise that her quest will endanger the lives of all who remain on the island. Passion will endanger everything they hold dear.
Travel Guide
The secret islands off the West Coast of Ireland with a few stories of their own
Inishshark
The abandoned island of Inishark that rises out of the Atlantic seven miles off the north inspired the island in the novel. On this island there is a close-knit community where pagan superstitions and Catholic beliefs exist side by side. People are being encouraged to move to the mainland but a stranger wants them to stay. In real life, Inishark’s remaining six families were moved to the mainland in Autumn 1960.
Cape Clear
Traditional methods of farming keep the local community afloat. This island has a deep-rooted connection with Irish literature and Irish fables and folklore just like St Brigids in the novel
Sherkin Island
The island is the ancestral home of the O’Donovan clan and is a stunning island for scenery and sailing.
Skelling Michael
This is probably St Brigids as it’s also famous for having been the setting for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now if that is not proof that there are some out of this world creatures living here, then we don’t know what is!
Changelings and more
The location may be fictional but the setting certainly isn‘t. The Lost Child is a story set firmly in Ireland in an island community, deeply embedded in Irish folklore and more. Changelings, fairy children, entire villages living without running water and reliant on the mainland for any thing of real value.
The island is insular and claustrophobic, dark and cold and death stalks where angels and fairies fear to tread.
Booktrailer Review
This is a dark and very atmospheric tale of death, superstition and changelings in Ireland. The mist sweeps around you as you read and it’s a very evocative tale of religious beliefs, hope, survival and how an island copes in terms of isolation and more. It’s ethereal and mystical and really illustrates the power of the human spirit and the human heart. It’s an island mystery, a ghostly shiver and the pages of this book might quite literally turn themselves as you read!
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Stolen Child
Author/Guide: Lisa Carey Destination: Ireland, Co Kerry Departure Time: 1960s
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