Winning Girls's Review
Hostages to Fortune
Rachel Hanna 10A1
My favourite book is 1 from a series of 5 written by Joan Lingard. The
book is called ‘Hostages to Fortune’ and is the conclusion
to the previous 4 books. The books are all different and each has a different
theme from romance to violence.
The series follows the relationship of a Roman Catholic boy and a Protestant
girl who eventually marry and move to England leaving behind the Troubles
in their native Ireland. In the last book they are settled in Cheshire
where Kevin works as a farmhand and Sadie as a cleaner. They also live
in a house belonging to the farmer with their baby son Brendan. Then
the farmer dies, the farm is sold and they are left jobless and homeless.
Where will they go? How will they survive? In addition to this Sadie
finds herself pregnant again. Will they have to return to their native
Ireland?
There are some hard times ahead and sad events for this young
couple, and family interference. Will their love survive? Or will the
family get their wish and split them up?
The characters are great and believable in every way. My favourite
character is Sadie because at the start she was a weak character
but has got stronger
throughout these novels. She has to cope with so much, her mum and
dad don't approve of Sadie going out with a Catholic boy as it is
not right. She then marries, moves to England with Kevin, and starts
her life with the man she loves.
Sadie
is also the strongest and wisest in their relationship. She is not
afraid of hard work and will take on any job to support her family.
She is also
a good mother to her son Brendan, always putting his needs first, and
her strong character is evident when she tragically gives birth to a
still
born baby boy.
These novels are all relevant to young people growing up at the height
of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Although I cannot relate to it,
it is sad that so much hurt and bitterness between families resulted
in young couples
leaving
and starting a new life on their own. I would recommend it to all teenagers,
both boys and girls, and those interested in finding out about life
at the height of the Troubles.
Rating
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