Writer Hayley Hunter has arrived in Ireland to complete a book
on Irish history. When she discovers the old carriage house she is renting is
haunted, she is determined to uncover the truth behind the burned ruins of a
nearby manor house and the abandoned British barracks it overlooks.
With the
assistance of Shay Macgregor, an Irish historian, her quest will take her to
1919 and the Irish War for Independence, exposing the murders of two young men
and why their mother, April Crutchley, refuses to leave the back of beyond even
in death.
With a budding romance and the opportunity to begin life anew, Hayley
finds her own life is now in jeopardy as she gets closer to a truth the
villagers have long sought to bury.
Watch the video below or at https://youtu.be/zAq9XUd4vJQ for the true story that inspired the book, or continue reading it below the video:
While
researching Irish history for a series on my Neely ancestors, I came across the
story of two teenage boys who were murdered in Ireland in 1919. Their family
had been in the country for generations and by all accounts, they were admired
and valued in their original home, but they relocated to a larger estate in
what would turn out to be a horrifically fatal mistake.
Unlike
their original home where Catholics and Protestants coexisted, their new home
was in the middle of a war zone. The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) and RIC
Special Forces (better known as the Black and Tans for their mismatched
uniforms) were fighting against those campaigning for Irish independence, such
as the Fenian Brotherhood and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB), the
forerunner of the IRA (Irish Republican Army). Their new home, like the one
portrayed in April in the Back of Beyond, overlooked British barracks and when the two
teenage boys informed their neighbors they were not allowed to trespass on
their property, they were shot and killed and their home burned to the ground.
The
story, however, did not end there; it was only the beginning of a nightmare
that would culminate in their mother suffering from severe emotional trauma,
having tried vainly to save her sons from bleeding to death while their home
and all their possessions burned. The true attack was particularly vicious, the
shots delivered so they would suffer at least a day before dying; it was so
imprinted on my mind as I learned of it that I was unable to replicate the
savagery in April in the Back of Beyond out of respect for my readers. The information
regarding the sale of their home is accurate as well as their migration to
Australia, where the family’s descendants continue to live today.
Visit http://pmterrell.com/wp/april-in-the-back-of-beyond/ for more information about this newest release, and check back for more of the true stories that inspired this book. Watch the book trailer below:
