Trim launch for historical novel by Skryne author
Anne Frehill's new book set during World War II
Skryne author Anne Frehill is set to next week officially launch her third historical novel 'The Shadows of Betrayal', which has just been published by Poolbeg Books.
In her works, the writer sets out to look at ordinary women doing extraordinary things, and this is again the focus of her new book, set during World War II.
In 'The Shadows of Betrayal', Pearl Allen is among the many thousands of Irish people fleeing Britain when war is declared with Germany, while Éire holds tight to its neutrality.
She accepts a job as an events manager in Willington House Hotel, a sumptuous retreat for the rich and famous, including wealthy English families seeking a haven in which to wait out the war. Tales of love, murder, kidnapping, espionage, and the hidden brutality of the era follow.
During the Covid-19 lockdowns, Anne turned what had previously been a sometime hobby, earning her 'a few bob', into something more full-time.
She began writing in her early teens when she had letters broadcast on Radio Eireann's 'Dear Sir or Madam'. After secondary school, she studied social science/social work at UCD for several years worked in child welfare.
In her thirties, while juggling motherhood and an injury, she worked in varying roles, as a letting agent, substitute teacher, then as a farm manager and carer, looking after her late father and his farm at Berrilstown, where she now lives with her family. In the new millennium, Anne had a historical piece broadcast on Sunday Miscellany on RTE radio, which was included in an anthology of pieces edited by Marie Heaney.
Short stories followed in the Woman's Way magazine, and Anne has been a regular contributor of articles, memory pieces and short stories to Ireland's Eye and Ireland's Own magazines, as well as the RST newsletter in her native Skryne.
She had two books published in 2021. 'Reapers of Justice' was set during the Irish War of Independence, in which Anne tried to get away from the male narrative regarding that period in Irish history.
Her second, 'When Silence Hurts' looked at the topic of coercive control and domestic abuse, and was set in the days before martial rape was made illegal in Ireland in 1990.
“The themes of both novels are as relevant and pertinent today as they were 100 years ago - that's what's extraordinary, it's proven what was always said about Shakespeare's plays, that themes are timeless,” Anne said following their publication.
The late RTE journalist, Liam Cahill, who studied creative writing in retirement, urged Anne to publish her first two novels.
Living in the heart of County Meath with its heritage and landscape has been a huge influence on Anne's latest novel, with historical landmarks and features such as the River Boyne, Trim Castle, and Hill of Tara featuring stongly, as well as inspiration taken from the people of the area, set against the international backdrop of World War II.
The book is dedicated to her late parents, Delia and James McCarthy. At the outbreak of the second World War, they were living in England. Like many of their contemporaries, they fled back to Ireland, and Anne says her father's stories about that time inspired the opening chapter of 'The Shadows of Betrayal'.
The book will be launched at Trim Castle Hotel on Tuesday next, 14th April, by Anne's neighbour, Meath Chronicle journalist John Donohoe, with the event running from 7pm to 9pm, and all are welcome to attend.