Product Description

Ireland, 1846. A boy on a life-changing journey which lives in the mind long after the final page. It is 1846, the height of the Great Hunger, and young Fergus is forced to grow up fast. Following the destruction of his home, he loses not only his family but everything he has ever loved. So begins an epic journey from innocence to experience that takes him from the west coast of Ireland to the docks and bordellos of Liverpool, and across the Atlantic. Along his journey he will meet bandit chiefs and railway navvies, ‘pearl boys’ and daring girls, and the willful Molly, who will teach him the ways of the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109003 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Guardian
a book of epic scope and harum-scarum momentum, depicted with great attention to detail

The Times
Behrens has the knack of making history come alive, using the language of the period to convincing effect

Synopsis
Ireland 1846. A boy on a life-changing journey, which lives in the mind long after the final page.It is 1846, the height of the Great Hunger, and young Fergus is forced to grow up fast. Following the destruction of his home, he loses not only his family but everything he has ever loved.So begins an epic journey from innocence to experience that takes him from the west coast of Ireland to the docks and bordellos of Liverpool, and across the Atlantic. Along his journey he will meet bandit chiefs and railway navvies, 'pearl boys' and daring girls and the willful Molly, who will teach him the ways of the world.

Customer Reviews

A Brutal Tale of Hardship and Endurance
Set in 1846 'The Law of Dreams' is a tragic and moving account of a young boy's journey from the starvation of Ireland, through a false dawn in Liverpool, to a brave new world in America. Suffering tragedy and betrayal this is ultimately a boy-to-man story under the worst possible circumstances.

One of the best things about this book is the way Behrens avoids making a hero out of Fergus. Creating a character who acts perfectly according to modern morality is one of the main stumbling blocks in many similar books. Behrems character is embroiled in a constant fight to survive in a world bereft of innocence and its this sense of reality that gives the book its substance.

Behrems research is impeccable and brings to life worlds that were merely dates and places before I read this book. Although a fiction book 'The Law of Dreams' really gives you a sobering insight into scenes such as the reality of life and death during the potato famine and the squalor of an Atlantic crossing below decks.

This is a brilliant book and should be read by fiction lovers and amateur historians alike. Both a fascinating read and an eye opening account. I can't wait for Behrems next novel.

an interesting read
This novel tells the young life of Fergus. Fergus is a young man running to escape the famine in Ireland to a place of hope, dreams and food. Yet Fergus doesn't know where England is yet alone America.
Through the novel we travel across rural Ireland, the dark streets of Liverpool and across the sea to the land of hope, America.
The novel is filled with fanastically vivid descriptions.

Harrowing historical fiction.
The Law of Dreams tells the story of a year in the life of Fergus O'Brien during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland during the 1840s. It takes us from his home on a mountaintop, which he leaves after witnessing his family all burning to death - deaths which were in fact murders that committed by his landlords. From there he travels to Liverpool, then Wales and onto a harrowing boat journey across the Atlantic to America. Along the way Fergus meets all manner of people who, like himself, are all struggling to survive. He encounters violence, treachery, thieves and prostitution - at one point being groomed as a `pearl' boy. On his travels he falls in love 3 times, each time ending up with a broken heart. Fergus has very few moments of joy and often wishes it were possible to live inside his head with his dreams.
Peter Behrens transports the reader back in time, to a world that was full of hardship, sorrow and tremendous losses. It teaches us how resilient the human spirit can be in order to overcome the horrors we sometimes have to face. Behrens has written a fantastic piece of historical fiction and Fergus's story will stay in my mind forever.