A Wistful Eye The Tragedy of a Titanic Shipwright eBook DJ Kelly
Download As PDF : A Wistful Eye The Tragedy of a Titanic Shipwright eBook DJ Kelly 
It is 1910 and fifty-six year old William Henry Kelly, a caulker at Belfast's Queen's Island shipyard, is engaged in building the White Star Liner Titanic, when Belle, his beloved wife of 30 years, is brutally murdered.
Based on the true story of the author's great grandfather, this is an account of life in Belfast's shipyards and working class districts during the turbulent first quarter of the 20th century.
Set against the background of the construction and destruction of Belfast's iconic but ill-fated super liner, and the effects of the First World War on industrial and community relations in Belfast, it tells the story of an ordinary but intelligent working man's battle with social injustice and with the demons within himself.
Although a tragedy, this story is told with humour, pathos and a warm affection for the characters.
'Highly recommended' - The Belfast Titanic Society
'A lovely read. Well done. You've captured the time and place.' - Sam McAughtry, author, journalist & broadcaster, BBC.
'Engaging, a thoroughly enjoyable read' - Historical Novel Society
'A mighty fine achievement' - Family Tree Magazine
A Wistful Eye The Tragedy of a Titanic Shipwright eBook DJ Kelly
Wistful eye was a delight to read, an insight into the life of workingclass people of Belfast a century ago. The reader is brought into the homes of hardworking folk living in squalor and poverty yet together they live happily among their neighbors until the rich get even more greedy. The women do their best to keep a clean house and healthy children. The men work long hours in dangerous working conditions of the shipyard to build ships that are the wonders of the world. Ships like the Titanic that carry thousands of passengers across the stormy Atlantic fraught with icebergs hidden in the fog.Product details
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A Wistful Eye The Tragedy of a Titanic Shipwright eBook DJ Kelly Reviews
''A Wistful Eye...' is a rare gem. The sensitive characterization of the author's great grandfather is beautifully set against the background of many key historical events the conception and destruction of The Titanic, social conflict in Ireland, the First World War. It also handles gritty social issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence and mortality in a balanced, realistic manner. Well-crafted, with witty dialogue and uncanny observations of the complexities of human behavior in adverse circumstances, this is a bold first outing from the author.'
Everyone's interested in Titanic, right? And this April is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the ship, so I guess we're gonna see a whole lot more Titanic books and films out there, God help us. Well I bought this particular book because my own ancestor was a shipwright in Belfast back then too and this seems to be the only book written about the men who built the big lady. I brought my family to Ireland & England to see where our ancestors lived, but there's not much left now to see of Belfast's dockside districts. This novel tells the true story of the writer's great grandfather, who was one of the men who built Titanic, and whose wife was murdered around that time, and it brought it all to life for me.
It has lots of detail of what life was like in Belfast's working class districts, and of the harsh working conditions the shipwrights experienced back in the day, when there were no labor laws and a working man's life was worth little. I guess it's a tragedy alright, but there is much northern Irish humour in here too and some nicely drawn characters. It's a touching human story, beautifully written, both funny and sad. My kid's reading it now for his school's Titanic history project.
I started reading this novel and for the first time since I read Catch 22 in the 1960s I read it all in one day. The author has succinctly captured the Irish character through a tale of social, political and economic deprivation. Problems which have haunted Ireland for centuries. Through all this they have maintained a humorous and stoic approach to life again amply described in this book. Mixed with this the author has cleverly intertwined world history as it affected the principal player. Particularly poignant is the tragedy of the sinking of the RMS Titanic which the main character William Henry Kelly had helped to construct and the feeling of guilt that maybe his workmanship was contributory to the loss. The book is based on her Great Grandfather of the same name who had in reality worked on the Titanic as a caulker and combined with meticulous research in all aspects the book succeeds on many levels. History aficionados will gain much from reading this novel which provides some of the reasons for the underlying turbulence seen in the Emerald Isle over recent times. On a personal note I have been enlightened as to my own background in Ireland which had some interesting parallels.
The story is fascinating and enjoyable. There has obviously been a lot of research gone into the story as it not only encompasses Kelly's family history but also the local, national and international events that occurred during the time frame.
The story follows Kelly's ancestor through the trials and tribulations of life in Belfast's poorer Protestant areas. William Henry Kelly, his wife Belle and their small family are beset by tragedy and hardship - some of their own making - until one final tragedy changes William Henry's life forever.
William Henry is a skilled caulker, working on the White Star Line's fleet at Harland and Wolff's shipyards where the Titanic was built. Their surviving children have all left home and begun their own lives as adults, making their ways as best they can in the hard times in pre-war Ireland.
Yet more tragedy befalls the family and William Henry is sent to prison. The story then begins to follow world events through snatches of newspaper clippings. I did feel that the author didn't seem to have much material with regards to William Henry's life because there's not much to write about in the day to day boredom of incarceration and so, weaving the news reports of rapidly approaching World War I was a clever way of getting historical facts embedded in the story.
I did find a few errors when reading but if there were more than a few, I didn't notice because the story was engaging and thoroughly enjoyable.
Of the few things I noticed, two of the main character's names were misspelled, (Beasant/Besant and Belle/belle) and the word `now' was overused in places but overall, an enjoyable read with some facts about Irish history that I was not aware of.
A gripping story about a man accused of the murder of his wife. While he is on trial and in prison we get to know about his life and about some of the big stories of the early 20th century. The setting of the Belfast Shipyards is an excellent one, giving the subsequent fate of the Titanic a new angle. While this makes for some very compulsive background there is plenty of further reading pleasure to be had from the characters. Knowing that the author and the man are related made me instantly wonder how much is family legend and how much researched. The end result in this book is plausible and satisfactory in any case. So much is said in this book - a very accomplished novel
A Riviting story. It gives a great insight into what went into the building of the huge ship the Titanic and some of the people who worked on her and what at least one of them went through.
Wistful eye was a delight to read, an insight into the life of workingclass people of Belfast a century ago. The reader is brought into the homes of hardworking folk living in squalor and poverty yet together they live happily among their neighbors until the rich get even more greedy. The women do their best to keep a clean house and healthy children. The men work long hours in dangerous working conditions of the shipyard to build ships that are the wonders of the world. Ships like the Titanic that carry thousands of passengers across the stormy Atlantic fraught with icebergs hidden in the fog.
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