num_pages: 352
description: Born in the slums of Dublin in 1902, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he's out robbing, begging, often cold, always hungry, but a prince of the streets. At fourteen, already six foot two, Henry's in the General Post Office on Easter Monday 1916, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, fighting for freedom. A year later he's ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian and soon, a killer. With his father's wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a republican legend - one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike. An historical novel like none before it, A STAR CALLED HENRY marks a new chapter in Roddy Doyle's writing. It is a vastly more ambitious book than any he has written before. A subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism, at its centre a passionate love story, this is a triumphant work of fiction.
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: Penguin, 2000