num_pages: 352
description: A Star Called Henry marks a new chapter in Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle's writing. On a broad canvas that takes us from the turn of the century, he paints a passionate love story that is also a vivid political saga and a subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism. Its protagonist is Henry Smart, son of a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores. As soon as he can walk, Henry becomes a prince of the streets, robbing, begging and charming his way. At fourteen, he's a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, and a year later he's ready to die for Ireland again as a rebel killer. Armed with his father's wooden leg, Henry becomes a republican legend, one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike, a lover.
language: English
title: A Star Called Henry
titlecomplete: A Star Called Henry
characters: Victor Smart, Edward VII, Arthur Griffith, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly, Mr Costello, Piano Annie, Cathal Brugha, Miss O'Shea, Dolly Oblong, Henry Smart, snr., Thomas Patrick Ashe, Maria Climanis, Melody Nash, Ivan Reynolds, Dick McKee, Granny Nash, Éamon de Valera, Henry Smart, David Climanis, Michael Collins, Countess Markievicz, Alfie Gandon
genres: Fiction, Ireland, Historical, War, School, Literature, Novels, Irish Literature, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 9396
places: Ireland, Dublin
series: The Last Roundup
awards: awardedAt: 978336000000
name: Dublin Literary Award
publisher: Vintage Canada