IT’S quite a feat to cram 100 years of history into a 300-page novel, but Garbhan Downey has certainly had a go.
In his book Once Upon a Time in the North West, he takes in the Easter Rising, the Irish Civil War, the Great Depression, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, the Second World War, gerrymandering and political corruption in Northern Ireland, JFK, the Civil Rights Movement, the Hunger Strikes and the ceasefires.
The novel is based around the consequences of the death of (fictional) Derry newspaper publisher Sean Madden in 2012. Because Madden was so well-connected and dealt with high-profile figures in Washington, the US government is deeply concerned that his filmed memoirs – a record of the past century that will jar with the official historical account – will get into British or Irish hands and stir up trouble.
They despatch agent Alistair McCloud to find and secure the memoirs and to delve into a largely forgotten murder attempt on the North West Chronicle publisher.
Madden’s heirs, notably his granddaughter Maeve, trust no one – British, Irish or American – and they are prepared to go to any lengths required to safeguard the publisher’s legacy.
The novel harks back to the opening of the Chronicle in 1912 but the first chapter is set in 2012, when Madden suffers a stroke and dies after watching TV footage of Deputy First Minister (and former IRA man) Martin McGuinness shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth.
“I thought if you were writing about a century in the north, the starting point had to be 1912 and the finishing point had to be that event or ones like it in the later peace process,” says the author, a former Irish News journalist.
“I’d been thinking about writing this book for about five years, to write a historical novel about Derry. There were stories I wanted to tell. I’ve read a lot of histories and historical novels, but so many of them miss out on the atmospherics and social politics; fiction allows you to create more of that.
“It’s also more of a romp than a history, so there’s a crime mystery element there to keep the reader interested.”
He says growing up in Derry and his days working for the Derry Journal and Derry News inspired much of the book in terms of how the British, Irish and Americans sought to influence the media throughout the Troubles and into the peace process.
“There are different agendas at play that the public don’t see. Government agents or representatives would want to meet newspaper people and they’d strongly try to influence the media,” he says.
“In the 70s and 80s in Derry the media was the focal point of the community and so it was very important; and because of that it was open to all sorts of influences from the British, the Irish, political groups, paramilitary groups and the Americans – they would all have liked to forward their own agendas through newspapers.
“I interviewed a man who was involved in mediation [in the north] about 10 years ago and so much of what he imparted was new to me and it was a real behind-the-scenes look at the Troubles and what went on.”
While the novel gives great insight into the world of newspapers and how it has changed over the years, it is principally a book about Derry and looks at the contributions the city has made to the world at large.
Downey admits that it is, in many ways, a love letter to his city.
“Yes, I think that’s a fair comment. I grew up with The Undertones and if you’d go on holiday, you’d tell people you were from Derry and they’d immediately bring up The Undertones; you were always just immensely proud of them and proud to be from the city.”
And, as he writes in his introduction to the book, it was also written in part for his children Fiachra and Bronagh as a kind of a history of the north west.
“I thought it would be important to give them some idea of the social politics and atmospherics of the city they’re growing up in. So in some respects it is a little bit of a legacy book for them.
“The book looks at the major changes that have taken place in Derry politically, economically and culturally over the last 100 years. Over that time, the city has not just survived – it has thrived.”
:: Once Upon a Time in the North West is out now (priced £8.95), published by the Guildhall Press (www.ghpress.com).
