The Only Glow of the Day — Martin Malone

A new historical novel from the author of The Silence of the Glasshouse, based on the author's one-hour play, Rosanna Night Walker. It is the winter of 1863 and Rosanna Doyle is living rough on the Curragh grasslands, within walking distance of a large military encampment. The novel follows her arrival at a `wren's nest', her life among the women there, her hopes at marrying the soldier whom she followed, and her meeting with journalist Richard Tone. The novel is grounded in historical fact; the character of Tone, the pressman who writes about the lives of the `wren women', is based on a journalist whom Charles Dickens sent to write about the women living rough in the Curragh. This is a touching story of one Irish woman's struggle to cope with harsh, unexpected realities. "Malone has written a wishful and at times shocking book about a little known and rarely discussed aspect of Irish colonial history."Irish Voice