A collection of short stories that capture the essence of life in Belfast by one of Ireland's leading political figures. It reveals the humanity and indominable spirit of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary times.
Category: Fiction
One of the world's best-known political figures shares stories that reveal the humanity and indomitable spirit of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. The moving accounts of the fictional characters in these eighteen short stories are set against the political turmoil of Gerry Adams' native Belfast.
'A good writer of fiction whose stories are not IRA agitprop but serious art. It is a good bet that James Joyce would read Gerry Adam's short stories to learn about the souls of Belfast as the world reads Dubliners' James F Clarity (New York Times) in the Irish Independent
President of Sinn Féin and TD for Louth, Gerry Adams has been a published writer since 1982. His books have won critical acclaim in many quarters and have been widely translated. His writings range from local history and reminiscence to politics and short stories, and they include the fullest and most authoritative exposition of modern Irish republicanism.
Born in West Belfast in 1948 into a family with close ties to both the trade union and republican movements, Gerry Adams is the eldest of ten children. His mother was an articulate and gentle woman, his father a republican activist who had been jailed at the age of sixteen, and he was partly reared by his grandmother, who nurtured in him a love of reading.
His childhood, despite its material poverty, he has described in glowing and humorous terms, recollecting golden hours spent playing on the slopes of the mountain behind his home and celebrating the intimate sense of community in the tightly packed streets of working-class West Belfast. But even before leaving school to work as a barman, he had become aware of the inequities and inequalities of life in the north of Ireland. Soon he was engaged in direct action on the issues of housing, unemployment and civil rights.
For many years his voice was banned from radio and television by both the British and Irish governments, while commentators and politicians condemned him and all he stood for. But through those years his books made an important contribution to an understanding of the true circumstances of life and politics in the north of Ireland.
James F. Clarity of the New York Times described him in the Irish Independent as "A good writer of fiction whose stories are not IRA agitprop but serious art."
The warmth of Adams's writing comes from the affection of a man for the remembered things of his past...The Street demonstrates that Adams can write well.
He brings a wry humour and a detailed observation to small events... If there is a unifying strand, it is compassion for people in difficult situations.
