ground-breaking children's novel ... defining read for children and adults
* RTE Radio 1's Arena *
twenty-five years on, Marita Conlon-McKenna is keeping history alive for children the world over
-- Ireland's Own
beloved the world over
-- The Herald
vividly brings history to life for its readers ... a hugely involving tale
-- Mad About Books
her books never shy away from difficult issues, gripping you from the very opening chapter
-- The Looking Glass
The Children of the Famine trilogy ... continues to not only educate Irish children about their history, but enable people to truly connect with what happened
-- The Looking Glass
A great survival saga
-- The Irish Independent
makes a whole part of our history come alive, while it still remains a thrilling adventure tale.
-- RTE Guide
A sublime story ... I don't know any child who will not find this book enthralling.
-- The Irish Times
... beautiful and moving ... historically true and fictionally vivid.
-- The Sunday Times
The Great Irish Famine of the 1840s has received more fictional treatment than almost any other period in Irish historical children's books. Writing about the Famine posed new challenges to writers for children. The traditional passivity linked to ideas about famine would need to be overcome by some kind of action. The intense and horrible suffering and disease would need to be confronted truthfully but without lurid sensationalism. Some sense of an ending would need to be provided. In Under the Hawthorn Tree, Marita Conlon-McKenna confronted these problems with honesty and simplicity: the plight of three children becomes a kind of pilgrimage. The search for survival is not merely that, but also a search to sustain family loyalty and preserve memory.
-- The Big Guide to Irish Children's Books
Brings the story of the Irish Famine thrillingly alive.
-- The Irish Post
makes a whole part of our history come alive, while it still remains a thrilling adventure tale.
-- RTE Guide * RTE Guide *
the powerful story of the survival of three children, alone, and against the odds.
-- Publishing News
Marita Conlon-Mckenna handles this appalling event in Irish history sensitively but never compromising the truth of hardship and human suffering.
-- Jane Murphy - writeaway.org.uk
(A) vivid picture of the Famine era ... fascinating and terrifying
-- Evening Echo
