Lagan Love [Paperback]

When Janice's father passed, he had left her money for her education. She decides to use it to study abroad, in Dublin.

Sinead and Aiden get along well when they are drunk, but when sober, they don't have much to talk about. Aiden is a rising poet and Sinead wants more out of life - in fact - thinks herself better than some. Sinead goes to the same school as Janice as the two become quick friends. Janice meets Aiden through Sinead, and the two quickly connect.

Then there is Gwen, a married woman who has a fling on the side, with Aiden and spends her time looking for new art or artists. When she sees Janice's art, she quickly makes a deal with her and Aiden. But then things begin to turn ugly between Aiden and Janice.

Old Ireland myths, a beautifully woven background, a cast of unique and adept characters set the tone for this phenomenal story of love, loss, and hunger. How much would you be willing to pay to achieve your dream? Is that cost worth the end result, even if you lose something close to you or even yourself? Peter Murphy spins a story bringing to light the darker side of Ireland and how twisted our human psych can become. With twists and turns, erotic scenes and magic, Lagan Love is a fascinating read.

LAGAN LOVE by Peter Murphy is an interesting novel set in 1980 Ireland. It is written with great details with characters that are not only realistic but will also capture your hearts as they embark on a long journey through Ireland. This is the story of the love of Ireland that was hidden in the lyrics about a beautiful woman in a 15th century son,My Lagan Love.It has love,lust,desire,passion,dreams lost,a restless past,volatile anger,myths,poetry,a blend of old ways and new. We meet Janice, Aidan,and Sinead. Janice,who has grown bored with her Toronto sheltered existence,and desires to embark on an adventure to Ireland. She wants recognition and a place in Ireland's future. Aidan, a up and rising poet,who is looking for redemption,who leads her through Ireland's veil of Celtic Twilight.Sinead,who once went out with Aidan,her parents are being torn apart by rumors of church scandal.When Aidan's ghosts of mythology start preying on the friend's everything is at risk of being lost. This is the story of lust,dreams lost,the price paid for said dreams as well as Ireland's myths and legends. At a time when Ireland is on the brink of prosperity and foreigners. This is a wonderful debut novel of Ireland's old ways,Celtic Crosses ruins and reveals the complex layers of Ireland and its people. This story will appear to romance readers as well as history bluffs, and anyone who enjoys a good Ireland tale. This book was received for the purpose of review from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. and the publisher and details can be found at Fiction Studio Books and My Book Addiction and More.

Once the pages of Peter Murphy's novel, Lagan Love, was opened I was instantly swept into Dublin, Ireland. Lagan Love centers around a group of people who are just beginning to find themselves. Aidan charges (or more aptly drunkenly stumbles) into the novel as Dublin's fresh young poet, dubbed as the voice of Ireland's conscience. Janice, a young women from Toronto, has moved to Dublin to study at the prestigious Trinity School. As Janice immerses herself in the new culture she also finds herself on a journey of self-discovery. After finding herself in a somewhat shaky relationship with Aidan, Janice decides to follow the path of becoming an artist. Mix in Gwen, Aidan's mysterious and other worldly editor, and you find yourself in the middle of Murphy's intoxicating tale of love, heart ache, and the cost of making your dreams a reality.

Murphy does a fine job in painting his 1980's Ireland as a place filled with class, socioeconomic, and religious strife. It doesn't take long to see that many characters in Lagan Love are disenchanted with many of the European countries, England being at the top of the list. Many of the characters are prejudice and have no problem throwing around racial remarks involving those in other social classes, of a different faith, or from a different country. This all seemed very realistic to me. However, Murphy also showed his Dubliners as a proud people, who didn't forget history and spoke of it frequently.

The characters in Lagan Love frequently spend their mornings, afternoons, and evenings in pubs drinking, smoking, gossiping, complaining, and speaking about about their times growing up. Murphy makes the pub a familiar place where everybody knows everyone and their business. The Cheers song, "Where everybody knows your name" comes to mind while following the characters from pub to pub.

Religion also plays a role in Murphy's novel. While reading I definitely felt the tension between the Protestants and Catholics. Murphy does a great job in showing what turmoil in the Catholic church can do to men and women in their own homes.

While I enjoyed Lagan Love, it took me a few chapters to get my footing. At times I felt there was too much history and 'sightseeing' being written about, which took away from the characters and their journey. It also took me a while to adjust to the Irish vernacular, however it did make the novel that much more realistic.

I enjoyed watching the character dynamics unfold between Janice and Aidan. When Janice met Aidan she was a shy, self conscious girl. Throughout the novel she evolved into a self confident, daring women. However, Aidan stayed much the same. The novel started showing him as an unhappy, egocentric character and ended much the same. Murphy makes the case that both Janice's evolution and Aidan's stalemate could be linked to Gwen.

I definitely recommend Lagan Love, Peter Murphy's first novel. I look forward to reading more literary work from him.

~Candace Lybarger, Reviewer for Bookpleasures
*I received Lagan Love as a complimentary book from The Fiction Studio through Bookpleasures for this review*