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Bog Child [Hardcover]

Siobhan Dowd (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Publication Date: 7 Feb 2008

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.

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 336 pages
  • Publisher: David Fickling Books; First Edition; 1st printing. edition (7 Feb 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385614268
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385614269
  • Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 14.2 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 378,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Authors

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Adrian Flynn
Siobhan Dowd

Product Description

Review

As a writer, Dowd appears to be incapable of a jarring phrase or a lazy metaphor. Her sentences sing, each note resonates with an urgent humanity of the sort that cannot be faked (Meg Rosoff Guardian 20080308)

The work of an outstanding writer (The Sunday Times 20080203)

A captivating first love affair, a hilarious red herring and profound truths about politics and family add up to a novel set to win awards in the coming year (Geraldine Brennan Observer 20080323)

An unflinchingly honest and brave novel (Irish Independent 20080126)

Only two months in, and I may have already found my favourite book of the year. Siobhan Dowd's Bog Child is an astonishing read and the kind of book that holds you in a trance (Becky Stradwick The Bookseller 20071116) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Book Description

The extraordinary story of one long summer in the life of an 18-year-old boy caught up in the chaos and conflict of Ireland in the 1980s.
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Customer Reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
13 reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
71 of 72 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking!! 11 Dec 2008
By angelmouse75
Format:Hardcover
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.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Complex and powerful 17 Nov 2009
By Mrs. K. A. Wheatley TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Deservedly shortlisted for a major fiction prize, this novel for teenagers about the troubles in Northern Ireland was complex and beautifully delicate. Fergus is an eighteen year old boy, studying hard to get the grades required to leave Northern Ireland and become a Doctor. His summer is disrupted when his older brother is arrested and put in the Maze prison as a political prisoner. It is never entirely clear what the brother has done, but he embarks on a hunger strike with his fellow prisoners and as Fergus grows into adulthood very quickly, discovering an Iron age body in a peat bog, getting a new girlfriend and learning to drive, his brother starts to waste away.

Fergus dreams of the peat bog woman, and his dreams foreshadow and become interwoven with the complexities of his life as he is forced to take sides, make a stand and learn how to be a man.

There are no easy answers in this text, and much is left deliberately ambiguous and 'grey', but this is like life itself, difficult, demanding and messy.

Sensitively written and all the more powerful for it.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Brilliant! 25 Aug 2009
By www.kidscompass.co.uk
Format:Paperback
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.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Betrayal or Sacrifice? 12 Aug 2009
By Hazi Wye
Format:Paperback
This book is about a 17 year old boy,Fergus, living in Dublin. His close relationshiop between him and his Uncle Tally becomes significant when they find a misshapen, child's body in the Earth while digging (illegally) for peat in Dublin. The child's mysterious death never allows Fergus to make sense of his hectic life filled with exams, Troubles, hunger-strikes, and growing feelings. And so he hears a little voice in his dreams, and the bog child's life (and death) begins to unfurl...

I am a 14 year old girl and I found this book thought-provoking and many a time I had to put it down, and try to make sense of it all. It can be confusing, but it keeps you reading, because it fills you with an urge to find out all about the bog child. This is not the most light-hearted read you will ever find, and it does contain some swearing. But it certainly has humorous moments to balance it all out. It is an unflinchingly honest and brave book, and it is for both boys and girls, make no mistake!
I highly recommend this read.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Another country 2 Jun 2009
By Michael Martin
Format:Paperback
Siobhan has recreated the world of the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland, where escape was hindered by family, history and loyalty.

The style is always warm and human; Siobhan's subjects are tough and complex. By putting herself in the (running) shoes of a teenage boy she has created a story that not only appeals to young readers but works for the older reader, who recognizes the hopes and barriers of youth.

When her final words are published, Siobhan's voice will be sorely missed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Story
`Bog Child' is a very thrilling and interesting book by Siobhan Dowd. It is about an Eighteen year old Fergus lives in Ireland in 1981 at the peak of the time when many of the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Bookworm
4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful
It really is tragic that Siobhan Dowd died so young, such a talented author and I'm certain that she would have gone on to write more wonderful stories. Read more
Published on 17 April 2011 by Lincs Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars I'm glad I did...
I had to study this book for my OU studies but I'm glad I did. It's beautifully written and very evocative of the 1980s. Read more
Published on 21 May 2010 by M. Mrs Holt
5.0 out of 5 stars Bog Child
Quite hard to put this book down - incorporated Irish history so there is a realness to the novel that makes it totally absorbing.
Published on 16 Mar 2010 by M. Maeve
5.0 out of 5 stars Bog Child, Carnegie medal winner
This is a sensitive story about one young mans coming of age in Northern Ireland in the time of the 'troubles'. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2010 by Jenny Panther
3.0 out of 5 stars Really a subject of interest for children?
I recently read this book as it won the Carnegie award and, as an English teacher, I like to keep abreast of the novels children are enjoying. Read more
Published on 13 July 2009 by M Holloway
4.0 out of 5 stars :)
This book is about a boy who discovers an iron age girls body in the bogs near where he lives. Part of the story is about how she died. Read more
Published on 27 Nov 2008 by Sidebotham
5.0 out of 5 stars A Super Read
I bought this book for my teenager son to encourage him to read. If it is not sport or top gear he is not interested. I will keep working on him to read this book. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2008 by Rose Ryan-George
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