Tom Phelan: Irish Novelist

In the Season of the Daisies tells the story of an IRA killing in 1921, which takes the life of young Willie Doolin and maims his twin brother, Seanie, for life. Seanie, tortured by grief, roams the hills of the countryside and the shadowy streets of the town, serving as a constant reminder of the tragedy. Many years later, the consequences of the crime are finally made clear, as one by one the people who were there that dreadful night--schoolteacher, doctor, shopkeeper, butcher, priest, and victim--reveal their secrets. Set in a small town in Ireland, In the Season of the Daisies is a powerful commentary on the mindlessness of violence and the futility of ancient animosities.

Read a chapter from In the Season of the Daisies

From the Reviews

"Tom Phelan has taken...a theme--the slaughter of innocence--and by dint of sheer lyrical power turned it into something you won't forget for a very long time."
--John Dunne, The Irish Times

"In the Season of the Daisies grabs you by the scruff of the neck from page one and refuses to let go....This is a work of such might and muscle.... Writing seems to come as naturally to Tom Phelan as breathing....Buy it!"
--Aubrey Malone, Books Ireland

"A writer of immense talent! This is literature of the highest caliber, tautly plotted and finely executed. No one with a serious interest in modern writing should miss it!
--Mike Hudson, Irish Echo

"If civil war is the most cruel kind of human conflict, this powerful novel, the Irish-born author's first to be published [in the United States], serves as a searing illustration of its horrors."
--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"This first novel, an unforgettable exploration of the shattering effects of violence, belongs in most fiction collections."
--Library Journal

"Phelan's talent is immense....His is that rare work of literature that transcends time and place. Must I say it? Read this book!"
--Allen J. Post, BookLovers

"In the Season of the Daisies is the rarest and most treasured of occurrences... Each block of dialogue is written so beautifully, you don't want it to ever end."
--Lissa Brennan, Pittsburgh Newsweekly

"Remarkable first novel... This book rearranged my interior."
--Frances McCue,
The (Seattle) Stranger

" A tremendously powerful novel....
A wonderful, harrowing experience."
--Ellen Connor, Boston Irish Reporter

"A tour de force of story-telling...a dramatic innovation in Irish fiction."
--In Dublin