A Star Called Henry

Jul 7, 2025 3:48 PM

Author:Roddy Doyle

A Star Called Henry

Born in the Dublin slums of 1901, his father a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores, Henry Smart has to grow up fast. By the time he can walk he's out robbing and begging, often cold and always hungry, but a prince of the streets. By Easter Monday, 1916, he's fourteen years old and already six-foot-two, a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army. A year later he's ready to die for Ireland again, a rebel, a Fenian and a killer. With his father's wooden leg as his weapon, Henry becomes a Republican legend - one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike.

Reviews

This is really a masterpiece

—— Irish Times

This is Ireland's most famous living writer tackling one of the most crucial periods in its history... A Star Called Henry has all the hallmarks of the start of a major literary portrayal of a national experience

—— Guardian

A vibrant work of fiction - In Doyle's ambidextrous hands, the making of modern Ireland gets a vigorous and illuminating run-down

—— Independent

Doyle just gets better and better... This is history evoked on an intimate, and yet earth-shaking scale, with a driving narrative that never falters. Maybe the Great American Novel remains to be written, but on the evidence of its first instalment - this is the epic Irish one, created at a high pitch of eloquence

—— Publisher's Weekly

The energy and full-blooded dialogue of Doyle's creations are as much in evidence here as in the best of his previous work- A Star Called Henry is billed as Volume One of The Last Roundup. It is an exhilarating beginning

—— Daily Telegraph

"A handsome, collectable hardback edition"

—— Lynne Truss , THE TIMES

A perfect holiday book

—— OK

A gem of a read

—— Grazia

An easy, feel-good read

—— Closer

A richly rewarding read

—— Eve

The best romantic comedy we've read in ages

—— Company

Tackles serious issues with humour - proving that chick-lit can be intelligent, interesting and huge fun

—— Sunday Express

A triumph

—— Hello

Top marks. Fantastic

—— Heat

Lovely

—— Daily Telegraph

Moving and intelligent

—— Independent

Magnetic, unpretentious and bursting with one-liners

—— Cosmopolitan

Fans of chick-lit will understand when I say that this is a book you simply disappear into

—— Sunday Telegraph

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