The Silence of the Glasshouse

Malone's powerful novel tells the story of the Irish Civil War and the execution of seven IRA men for illegal possession of arms. At the same time, four Kerry volunteers sentenced to death for identical offences are pardoned after undertaking to make their peace with the new government. The prisoners' last six days unfold through the eyes of one of the condemned men, Stephen `Chalky' White as he awaits his execution, while his mother, at her home in Kildare patiently waits for news of her son's fate. This is a book that brings to life the impact that the Civil War had on the Irish people and the divisions that left their small communities scarred for decades.