Bygone Era Books Announces Kilpara a Debut Novel Released by Author Patricia Hopper
Morgantown, WV, September 4, 2015 (Newswire.com) - Bygone Era Books, Ltd.
Bringing the past alive for the future
Midwest Book Review quotes Kilpara: "Nothing says "intimacy" more than shared family experiences that expose long-held secrets and inject much-needed understanding into the mix of angst and pain that permeate one family's world" - Diane Donovan
PRESS RELEASE For info. contact: Patricia Hopper Patteson
Phone: (304)906-5925
National author Patricia Hopper
Denver-based historical book publisher Bygone Era Books announces the release of Patricia Hopper’s debut novel Kilpara. Hopper, an Irish native, lives West Virginia. In her novel she tackles the question she heard many times, “My ancestors were Irish and longed to return to the old country, but never made it back.” The (Irish claimed) song I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen laments this sentiment. A mournful tune, it has always touched Patricia and became a foundation for the novel.
Kilpara is set in northern Maryland and in Lough Corrib, Ireland; the year is 1866. Ellis O’Donovan, the son of Irish immigrants, and his family have made it through the Civil War, but not unscathed. Their farm was raided by Confederates, an act that drove his three brothers to enlist under the Union command. Tragically, his youngest brother Francis was killed during the battle of Fredericksburg.
Ellis spent the darkest days of the Civil War in Baltimore fulfilling contracts with the federal cavalry for horses raised on the O’Donovan farm. Now the country is healing in the aftermath of the war and opportunities abound for someone of his business initiative. His future looks bright—until he receives an urgent telegram that his mother is seriously ill. His life takes an odd twist when Ann O’Donovan pleas with him to accompany her to her Irish homeland to die at Kilpara. The estate, once owned by the O’Donovans for over three hundred years, now resides in the hands of a British aristocrat. Ellis’ future begins to slip away as family responsibility pulls him back into its grip and thrusts him into a world that tests his meaning of love, loyalty and honor.
Midwest Book Review quotes Kilpara: “Nothing says "intimacy" more than shared family experiences that expose long-held secrets and inject much-needed understanding into the mix of angst and pain that permeate one family's world” – Diane Donovan
Manhattan Book Review quotes Kilpara “Throughout the story, the reader is introduced to many characters, who are all strongly developed by the author. Each one plays a unique and important role in the story. My biggest surprise was the relevant role of Ellis’ horse, Brazonhead” – Lisa Covington
The Historical Novel Society quotes Kilpara “As a first novel it is well crafted, solidly researched, and lovingly written” – Steve Shaw
Patricia Hopper Patteson, a native of Dublin, Ireland, lives in West Virginia. She earned a B.A. and M.A. from West Virginia University (WVU). She received honors from WVU and numerous awards from the annual West Virginia Writers’ competition. Her fiction and non-fiction have been published in magazines, reviews, and anthologies. Previously published fiction works appeared in Amore Magazine, Appalachian Heritage, Hamilton Stone Review, Ireland’s Own, Mist on the Mon, Woman, Woman’s Way (Ireland), and Woman’s World.
Kilpara was released May 2015. It is available from the publisher, in book stores, and on Kindle and other electronic book sources.
Bygone Era Books, Ltd.
7665 E. Eastman Ave. #B101
Denver, CO 80231
www.bygoneerabooks.com