Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show: A Novel of Ireland

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show: A Novel of Ireland

â€œShe sprang from the womb and waved to the crowd. Then smiled and took a bow.â€ And so we first meet Venetia Kelly, the beguiling actress at the center of this new, spellbinding, and epic novel by Frank Delaney, the bestselling author ofÂ Ireland and Shannon.

January 1932: While Ireland roils in the run-up to the most important national election in the Republicâ€™s short history, Ben MacCarthy and his father watch a vagabond variety revue making a stop in the Irish countryside. After a two-hour kaleidoscope of low comedy, Shakespearean recitations, juggling, tumbling, and other entertainments, Benâ€™s father, mesmerized by Venetia Kelly, the troupeâ€™s magnetic headliner, makes a fateful decision: to abandon his family and set off on the road with Miss Kelly and her caravan. Benâ€™s mother, shattered by the desertion, exhorts, â€œFind him and bring him back,â€ thereby sending the boy on a Homeric voyage into manhood, a quest that traverses the churning currents of Irelandâ€™s fractious society and splinters the MacCarthy family.

Interweaving historical figures including W. B. Yeats, and a host of unforgettable creationsâ€”â€œKingâ€ Kelly, Venetiaâ€™s violent, Mephistophelean grandfather; Sarah Kelly, Venetiaâ€™s mysterious, amoral mother; and even a truth-telling ventriloquistâ€™s dummy named Blarneyâ€”Frank Delaney unfurls a splendid narrative that spans half the world and a tumultuous, eventful decade.
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Teeming with intrigue, pathos, and humor, Venetia Kellyâ€™s Traveling Show explores two of Irelandâ€™s great national passions: theater and politics. Writing with his signature mastery and lyrical prose, Frank Delaney once again delivers an unforgettable story as big and boisterous as the people and events it chronicles.
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Country USA
Brand Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer Random House
Binding Hardcover
ReleaseDate 2010-02-23
UnitCount 1
Format Bargain Price

Country	USA
Brand	Random House Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer	Random House
Binding	Hardcover
ReleaseDate	2010-02-23
UnitCount	1
Format	Bargain Price

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show: A Novel of Ireland

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