Joan Lingard Quotes

“Kevin and Sadie just want to be together, but it’s not that simple. Things are bad in Belfast. Soldiers walk the streets and the city is divided.”

“No Catholic boy and Protestant girl can go out together - not without dangerous consequences.”

“This fairly short book tells of two families, one Catholic and one Protestant. Sadie and Kevin fall in love but have different backgrounds.”

“Their different backgrounds mean that they are prevented from seeing each other safely. They meet secretly but they know this will lead to trouble.”

“This is an interesting look into life in Northern Ireland in the 70s when bombing, shooting and murder were commonplace, this story suggests that this was a nightly occurrence and nobody was safe.”

“Kevin and Sadie used to be enemies but now at 17 and 18 years old, they meet again and end up falling in love at a time when no-one wants them to be together.”

“This is a book that looks finely at the tensions during The Troubles - a time when a Catholic boy couldn’t walk out with a Protestant girl without getting beat up. ”

“Kevin and Sadie have to live with violence every single day and the reader is with them as their tolerance grows less and less with the way they’re forced to live and hide their relationship.”

“Kevin has to work hard to not be forced into doing violent things he doesn’t want to do and not become involved with old schoolfriends being involved with the IRA, or IRA activities.”

“Sadie’s father is in the Orange Order, and her own brother has to constantly explain to others why he himself doesn’t want to join up as he is also sick of violence.”