Across the Barricades door Joan Lingard

Title: Across the barricades Author: Joan Lingard Published in: 1972 Edition: unknown Genre: Romance, adventure story. Title explanation: The title has two meanings: across the physical barricades which divides the streets of Belfast (Northern Ireland) into two parts, and across the religious or social barricades which divides the people of Belfast into two parts, and that’s what causes problems to Kevin and Sadie. The book is called this way because it takes place in the divided Northern Ireland, where the catholic districts are isolated from the protestant ones by barricades. Because the main personages Kevin and Sadie have several religions, they live on the different sides of those barricades. Place: In Belfast (Northern Ireland).
Time: Somewhere in the 20th or the 21 century, because the quarrel between catholics and protestants is in the same time. Characters: The main characters are Sadie Jackson and Kevin McCoy. Sadie Jackson is a 15-year-old protestant girl. She’s a determined and independent girl with strong opinions. She’s not afraid of speaking up for herself (and others). Kevin McCoy is also about 20 years old and he’s catholic. He’s calm, serious, hardworking and very loyal. Summary: The catholic boy Kevin McCoy and the protestant girl Sadie Jackson meet each other in Belfast. The last time they saw each other was three years ago, when Kevin’s sister Brede and Sadie’s brother Tommy were used to be friends. They decide t meet again and after a few meetings they fall in love. Their relationship is not popular among family and friends, who try to stop it in many ways, but not successfully. Kevin and Sadie meet in secret, sometimes in the country outside Belfast. Their relationship causes them several problems: there is a lot of gossiping and both lose their jobs. Eventually Kevin gets beaten up. When the situation really gets critical and they decide to break up, they get a new friend: Mr. Blake. He’s an earlier teacher of Sadie, who is willing to help them. Mr. Blake lives in a peaceful area where nobody knows Sadie and Kevin. He proposes to them to meet secretly at his. He also delivers Sadie a new job: she starts to clean at Mr. Blakes and at Hendersons (the neighbours of Mr. Blake). Then Mr. Blake starts to receive anonymous letters. One day, he is taking Sadie and Kevin out for a trip with his car. After a while, a wheel falls off, and the policemen find out that the car’s sabotaged. Kevin and Sadie continue to meet, but one day someone throws a petrol bomb into Mr. Blake’s house, and Mr. Blake dies. This is a turning point in the book. Kevin decides to move out of Belfast to England to make a fortune there. He can’t stand all the troubles in Belfast anymore. The day Kevin leaves, he meets Sadie on the docks to say good-bye. It finally turns out that Sadie is going with him to England. Theme: The theme of the book is the quarrel between catholics and protestants. The author also wants to give information about the situation in Northern Ireland (which is critical), and she wants to make clear that love ignores barricades such as in Belfast. Choice justification: I chose this book because it was the only book that was left. Own opinion: I think this book is very romantic and adventurous.