Under the Hawthorn Tree (novel)

Last updated

Under the Hawthorn Tree
Under the Hawthorn Tree.jpg
First edition
Author Marita Conlon-McKenna
Language English
SeriesChildren of the Famine
Genre Children's books, Historical fiction
Media typePrint
Followed byWildflower Girl 

Under the Hawthorn Tree is a children's historical novel by Marita Conlon-McKenna, the first in her Children of the Famine trilogy set at the time of the Great Famine in Ireland. It was published by the O'Brien Press in May 1990. [1] It was adapted for television in 1999. [2]

Contents

Plot summary

The novel tells the story of three siblings, Mary Ellen (Eily), Michael and Margaret (Peggy) O'Driscoll, who live in a small cottage in their home district of Duneen. Ireland is in the height of The Great Hunger. Blight has destroyed the staple crop. Ten month old Bridget dies of famine fever and is buried under the hawthorn tree in the garden: in Irish mythology, the hawthorn is linked with the otherworld.

Their father has gone to find work on the famine roads, and the children and their mother struggle each day, barely getting enough food to survive. Their mother ends up selling all of her belongings except for the clothes on their backs. Desperate and worried that she won't be able to feed her children alone, she leaves to search for her husband. After waiting for their parents for a few days, the three siblings are forced to leave for the workhouse. Eily makes a decision; they would make the long journey to find Nano and Lena, the aunts from their mother's stories. The journey ahead is dangerous and the children are weak, but they are determined to make it to Castletaggart where their aunts are living and running a bakery.

Reception

Under the Hawthorn Tree received the Children's and Young Adult's Book Award for Older Reader Category in 1991. [3]

Translations

The book, originally written in English, has been translated into Irish, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Malay, Arabic and Korean. [4]

Television adaptation

Under the Hawthorn Tree was filmed for Channel 4 and screened as a four-part series in March 1999. [2]

Sequels

Related Research Articles

<i>Flambards</i> 1967 novel

Flambards is a novel for children or young adults by K. M. Peyton, first published by Oxford University Press in 1967 with illustrations by Victor Ambrus. Alternatively, "Flambards" is the trilogy (1967–1969) or series (1967–1981) named after its first book. The series is set in England just before, during, and after World War I.

Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton, who wrote primarily as K. M. Peyton, was a British author of fiction for children and young adults in the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legacy of the Great Irish Famine</span>

The legacy of the Great Famine in Ireland followed a catastrophic period of Irish history between 1845 and 1852 during which time the population of Ireland was reduced by 50 percent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flann O'Brien</span> Irish writer (1911–1966)

Brian O'Nolan, his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth-century Irish literature. Born in Strabane, County Tyrone, he is regarded as a key figure in modernist and postmodern literature. His English language novels, such as At Swim-Two-Birds and The Third Policeman, were written under the O'Brien pen name. His many satirical columns in The Irish Times and an Irish-language novel, An Béal Bocht, were written under the name Myles na gCopaleen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edna O'Brien</span> Irish writer (1930–2024)

Josephine Edna O'Brien was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Hobb</span> American fiction writer (born 1952)

Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden, known by her pen names Robin Hobb and Megan Lindholm, is an American writer of speculative fiction. As Hobb, she is best known for her fantasy novels set in the Realm of the Elderlings, which comprise the Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man trilogies, the Rain WildChronicles, and the Fitz and the Fool trilogy. Lindholm's writing includes the urban fantasy novel Wizard of the Pigeons and science fiction short stories, among other works. As of 2018, her fiction has been translated into 22 languages and sold more than 4 million copies.

Events from the year 1990 in Ireland.

The Arabesk trilogy is a sequence of alternate history novels by the British author Jon Courtenay Grimwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. E. Murphy</span> American-Irish fantasy and romance writer

Catherine E. Murphy, writing primarily under the byline C. E. Murphy, is an American-born author, based in Ireland, who writes in the fantasy and romance genres. She is the author of the Walker Papers series, The Negotiator Trilogy, and the Inheritor's Cycle as well as The Strongbox Chronicles. She has also written the graphic novel Take a Chance.

<i>The Edge of the Cloud</i> 1969 childrens historical novel by K. M. Peyton

The Edge of the Cloud is a 1969 historical novel written for children or young adults by K. M. Peyton. It was the second book in Peyton's original Flambards trilogy, comprising three books published by Oxford with illustrations by Victor Ambrus, a series the author extended more than a decade later. Set in England prior to the First World War, it continues the romance of Christina Parsons and Will Russell. The title alludes to Will's participation in early aviation.

<i>The Country Girls</i> Trilogy of novels by Irish author Edna OBrien

The Country Girls is a trilogy by Irish author Edna O'Brien. It consists of three novels: The Country Girls (1960), The Lonely Girl (1962), and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964). The trilogy was re-released in 1986 in a single volume with a revised ending to Girls in Their Married Bliss and addition of an epilogue. The Country Girls, both the trilogy and the novel, is often credited with breaking silence on sexual matters and social issues during a repressive period in Ireland following World War II and was adapted into a 1983 film. All three novels were banned by the Irish censorship board and faced significant public disdain in Ireland.

<i>The Magic Toyshop</i> 1967 novel by Angela Carter

The Magic Toyshop (1967) is a British novel by Angela Carter. It follows the development of the heroine, Melanie, as she becomes aware of herself, her environment, and her own sexuality.

Marita Conlon-McKenna is an Irish author of children's books and adult fiction. She is best known for her Famine-era historical children's book Under the Hawthorn Tree, the first book of the Children of the Famine trilogy, which was published in 1990 and achieved immediate success. Praised for its child-accessible yet honest depiction of the Great Famine, Under the Hawthorn Tree has been translated into over a dozen languages and is taught in classrooms worldwide. Conlon-McKenna went on to be a prolific writer and has published over 20 books for both young readers and adults. Her debut adult novel Magdalen was published in 1999.

The KPMG Children's Books Ireland Awards, previously known as the CBI Book of the Year Awards and the Bisto Book of the Year Awards, are literary awards presented annually in the Republic of Ireland to writers and illustrators of books for children and young people. The Awards are run by Children's Books Ireland (CBI) and are open to authors and illustrators born or resident in Ireland; books may be written in English or Irish. Many bestselling, internationally renowned authors have won a "Bisto", including Eoin Colfer, John Boyne and several times winner Kate Thompson.

The O'Brien Press is an Irish publisher of mainly children's fiction and adult non-fiction.

Cathy Kelly is an Irish writer of women's fiction and a former journalist. In 2001, her novel Someone Like You won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

<i>The Search for WondLa</i> 2010 childrens novel by Tony DiTerlizzi

The Search for WondLa is a children's science fiction fantasy novel by Tony DiTerlizzi published in 2010. It is the first book of the WondLa series. The website dedicated to the book had an innovative section which interacts with the book's illustrations via webcam.

Under the Hawthorn Tree may refer to:

<i>House of Splendid Isolation</i> 1994 novel by Edna OBrien

House of Splendid Isolation is a 1994 novel by Irish novelist Edna O'Brien. The novel depicts the relations of an Irish Republican Army terrorist and his hostage, an elderly woman. The novel brings elements of the thriller genre to O'Brien's ongoing explorations of Irish society. It is based on the life of Dominic McGlinchy, whom O'Brien interviewed while incarcerated in Portlaoise Prison.

Patricia "Pat" Donlon is an Irish librarian and academic, and former director of the National Library of Ireland and the first woman to hold that post.

References

  1. "Under the Hawthorn Tree | (Children of the Famine, book 1) | A novel by Marita Conlon-McKenna". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  2. 1 2 Under the Hawthorn Tree at IMDb
  3. "Children of the Famine #1 | Under the Hawthorn Tree | Marita Conlon-McKenna". Goodreads . Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  4. "Under the Hawthorn Tree | Children of the Famine". The O'Brien Press. Retrieved 13 July 2024.[ non-primary source needed ]
  5. "Wildflower Girl (1991) | (The second book in the Children of the Famine series) | A novel by Marita Conlon-McKenna". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
  6. "Fields of Home (1995) | (The third book in the Children of the Famine series) | A novel by Marita Conlon-McKenna". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 13 July 2024.