Product Description

Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds the body of a child, and it looks like she's been murdered. As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him - his brother on hunger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his parents arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck, blackmailed into acting as courier to God knows what, a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls. "Bog Child" is an astonishing novel exploring the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13772 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From the Inside Flap
One inch from the wall of brown turf, he froze.
'There's something here. In the earth. A hand.'
Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds something that makes his heart stop. Curled up deep in the bog is the body of a child. And it looks like she's been murdered.
As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him - his brother on hnger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his mam and da arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck - a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.
Set in Ireland in the 1980s, Bog Child is a powerful novel that explores the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.

From the Back Cover
One inch from the wall of brown turf, he froze.
'There's something here. In the earth. A hand.'
Digging for peat in the mountain with his Uncle Tally, Fergus finds something that makes his heart stop. Curled up deep in the bog is the body of a child. And it looks like she's been murdered.
As Fergus tries to make sense of the mad world around him - his brother on hnger-strike in prison, his growing feelings for Cora, his mam and da arguing over the Troubles, and him in it up to the neck - a little voice comes to him in his dreams, and the mystery of the bog child unfurls.

About the Author
Siobhan Dowd lived in Oxford with her husband, Geoff, before tragically dying from cancer in August 2007, aged 47. She was both an extraordinary writer and an extraordinary person, and leaves two unpublished novels, the first being Bog Child. Siobhan's first novel, A Swift Pure Cry won the Branford Boase Award and the Eilis Dillon Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and Booktrust Teenage Prize. Her second novel, The London Eye Mystery, won the 2007 NASEN & TES Special Educational Needs Children's Book Award.

Customer Reviews

Breathtaking!!
As an English teacher, I like to try and keep abreast of what is being read by some of my students and happened upon Dowd's first book, 'A Swift Pure Cry' in our school library. Having loved her debut I returned eagerly to our librarian to see if we had anything else and found 'Bog Child'. Having spent a few of my childhood years in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, I'm always wary of authors' attempts to recreate history without bias. However, Dowd has penned a stunning tapestry of stories, delicately interweaving the lives of its characters against a backdrop of hatred, fear and sorrow. Not since 'A Gathering Light' have I found myself so eagerly turning the pages of teenage fiction, desperate to learn the answer to its mysteries. Dowd's main character, Fergus McCann, is a young man torn apart by hopes and dreams, struggling with the beliefs of his family and country. His own journey to freedom is utterly captivating and I particularly loved that the reader never knows more than he does - we discover the answers together.

I was utterly devastated to read that Dowd died shortly after completing this novel but am confident that she has left behind a stunning piece of fiction that will enthrall readers, both young and old, for years to come.

Rare Theme for a Teenage Novel
I read Bog Child because I was totally bowled over by Siobhan Dowd's A Swift Pure Cry and was deeply affected by Dowd's death of cancer. Bog Child was published post-humously. It is set in the Nothern Ireland of The Troubles, with a family trying to cope with the impending loss of a brother who has joined the hunger strikers in the Maze. But the core of the story surrounds the discovery of a preserved body of a child from ancient times in the peat bogs. Dowd's writing continues to be stellar here, but the parallel stories do not mesh as they should despite the big-hearted emotional core to the novel. Ulitimately still a good read.

Simply Brilliant!
Eighteen year old Fergus lives in Ireland in 1981 at the peak of the Troubles consuming his country. Digging for contraband peat early one morning with his Uncle Tally he uncovers the body of a young girl buried in the mud. Dating back to the Iron Age the body has a noose around its neck and seems to have been the victim of brutal execution. But Fergus has his own problems. His brother is on hunger strike in prison, a man he believes to work for a terrorist cell is attempting to recruit him, he's falling in love with Cora the archaeologist's daughter... And on top of all that the voice of the dead girl, Mel, is talking to him in his dreams.

A Carnegie Award winner the posthumously published Bog Child is a work of genius. Beautifully written there are no jarring notes to this tale as it seamlessly balances the harshness of the situation and the strong emotions running through the story. Fergus is an intelligent and likable character destined for better things and does not fit into this world of conflict and hate dominated by the war between the IRA and the British army. His story and Mel's intermingle as the story nears its climax, both characters confronted by mindless and vicious political issues that will require great personal sacrifice on their part. Personal heroism, political conflict and love are just some of the themes dealt with by the writer in a book that resonates with a real passion for life, reinforcing just what a loss Siobhan Dowd is to the world of teenage fiction.