The Family on Paradise Pier

The Family on Paradise Pier
Dermot Bolger

A stunning historical saga set in the early decades of the twentieth century which follows the lives and loves of one extraordinary family.We first meet the Goold Verschoyle children in 1915. Though there is a war going on in the world outside, they seem hardly touched by it – midnight swims, flower fairies and regatta parties form the backdrop to their enchanted childhood. But as they grow older, changes within Ireland and the wider world encroach upon the family’s private paradise.Turbulent times – the Irish war of independence, the Spanish Civil War, and World War II – are woven into the tapestry upon which this magical story is spun. Events in Spain, Russia and London draw the children in different directions: one travels to Moscow to witness Communism at first had; another runs away to England to take part in the General Strike and then heads off to the Civil War in Spain; another follows the more conventional route of marriage and family.Based upon the extraordinary lives of a real-life Anglo-Irish family, Bolger’s novel superbly recreates a family in flux, driven by idealism, wracked by argument and united by love and the vivid memories of childhood. ‘The Family on Paradise Pier’ shows Bolger at the height of his powers as a master storyteller. A spellbinding and magnificent achievement.

The Family on Paradise Pier

Dermot Bolger

For Donnacha and Diarmuid

Table of Contents

Cover Page (#u0f2bc14c-251c-584c-8cf5-26778b7bbaa7)

Title Page (#u73fd2f25-28df-5733-bbce-4155330b2f03)

Prologue 1941 (#u02e2d6f5-4c60-58e3-90a1-9dc32d9aa8c5)

PART ONE 1915–1935 (#u98c6f1df-c8d4-58df-99a3-bb666c5f8b61)

ONE The Picnic (#ucb4b1481-4c9d-5c46-8a53-98fb0ac3036f)

TWO The News (#ucfbbac0f-ee6e-5e48-a65c-0877c4bc4feb)

THREE Four Thousand Lamps (#ua6fcb1fe-b8d5-5f73-ae7c-be1505c1c057)

FOUR The Motor (#u7e4ca006-0d8d-5c8a-b357-9f6b190c41f4)

FIVE The Boat (#ued9abd27-fc3a-5684-8dcb-eb23e5c1eaa5)

SIX The Docks (#ub284c6db-0773-521b-8ff6-c1066c51458f)

SEVEN The Exiles (#u65d2a3fb-d5d8-58fb-b843-ff5c4ec52747)

EIGHT The Studio (#u36f450e1-2496-5614-86f1-613745d5ae19)

NINE Not a Penny off the Pay (#ueb7b45d8-9845-542d-87f3-aa73796a7286)

TEN The Turf Cutters (#litres_trial_promo)

ELEVEN The Two Fredericks (#litres_trial_promo)

TWELVE Eccles Street (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTEEN Deep in the Woods (#litres_trial_promo)

FOURTEEN Chelsea (#litres_trial_promo)

FIFTEEN The Visit (#litres_trial_promo)

SIXTEEN The Letter (#litres_trial_promo)

SEVENTEEN A Jaunt Abroad (#litres_trial_promo)

EIGHTEEN The Night Call (#litres_trial_promo)

PART TWO 1936 (#litres_trial_promo)

NINETEEN Hunting and Shooting (#litres_trial_promo)

PART THREE 1937–1946 (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY The Volunteer (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-ONE Night (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-TWO The Bailiffs (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-THREE The Crumlin Kremlin (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FOUR The Journey (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-FIVE The Camp (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SIX The Man from Spain (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-SEVEN In the Hold (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-EIGHT An Encounter (#litres_trial_promo)

TWENTY-NINE The Great Betrayal (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY The Plane (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-ONE The Knock (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-TWO The Grave (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-THREE A Tutor Comes (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-FOUR Make Room (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-FIVE Home (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-SIX The Former People (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-SEVEN The Flag (#litres_trial_promo)

THIRTY-EIGHT A Darkened Room in Oxfordshire (#litres_trial_promo)