#BookReview of The Sins of Armstrong House by A. O’Connor | @PoolbegBooks

‘With his usual meticulous research writing historical fiction O’Connor captures the turbulent times of Ireland in the early 1920s as the fledgling country fought for survival’
– Poolbeg Press, The Sins of Armstrong House

[ About The Sins of Armstrong House ]

Present Day

During a lavish wedding at her husband Nico’s ancestral home, Armstrong House, Kate Collins is intrigued when a mysterious stranger presents a photograph taken at a ball there in 1923. The photograph is of Clara, Nico’s grandfather’s first wife, who is known to have fled Ireland and her marriage two years before that date, after the house was set on fire during the War of Independence. As Kate investigates this puzzling discrepancy, she and Nico are stunned as the sins that remained buried for over a century come back to haunt them.

1923

After escaping from her unhappy marriage to Lord Pierce Armstrong and the fire at their stately home, Clara is starting a new life in London. But, when tragedy strikes in Ireland, she returns to Pierce and Armstrong House. With the country on a knife edge during the Civil War, Clara doesn’t know who to trust as the deception of those closest to her becomes progressively menacing – and someone seems willing to go to any lengths to make sure she never leaves again.

Present Day

As Kate unearths the truth, she discovers how love, money, envy, and greed culminated on one terrifying night a century ago.

[ My Review ]

The Sins of Armstrong House by A. O’Connor published September 1st with Poolbeg Press and is described as ‘a much anticipated new novel’ bringing the popular Armstrong House series to its dramatic finale. A. O’Connor is a keen historian but what’s very interesting is the somewhat controversial nature of what he writes about. In this book he focuses his attention on the treatment of the aristocracy in Ireland in those turbulent years post independence.

The Easter Rising of 1916 and the Civil War that followed left an indelible mark on many families. The struggle for independence and the decisions that were made at the time turned brother against brother. There were some dreadful atrocities enacted on all sides and many of the big houses were burned to the ground as a battle for the rightful ownership of the land was fought. Much of violence toward the aristocratic families who lived in Ireland resulted in them being forced out of their homes, with many returning to England. With the land vacated and subsequently considered abandoned, it was sold to the local farmers and ultimately returned to the Irish. In this novel A. O’Connor provides the reader with a perspective from the aristocrat highlighting the fear they felt for their lives and their homes and the tough decisions they had to make. Some displayed quite bullish behaviour toward the local populace treating them as peasants with more hoping to assimilate into the local communities and remain in their homes.

In The Sins of Armstrong House the reader is immersed in two separate timelines, 1923 and the present day. Today Nico and Kate live in Armstrong house, with Nico a direct descendent of the family. On the day of Nico’s daughter’s wedding, Kate is approached by a stranger who shows her a photograph that rocks Kate and Nico’s world. They had always believed that a deliberate fire in 1922 had caused the then Armstrong family to leave the estate but this photograph provides an alternate picture. As Kate begins to investigate we are brought right back to the early 1920s and into the lives of Pierce Armstrong and his first wife Clara.

Clara wasn’t born into aristocracy but her family were monied from their chocolate business. She fell passionately in love with Pierce Armstrong and, following their marriage, she left England to live in his family estate in Ireland. Clara loved Armstrong House but Pierce’s sister Prudence was always jealous toward her with the opinion that the estate was truly hers to manage. Prudence made life very difficult for Clara and their marriage faltered. Following a devastating fire at Armstrong House in 1922, Clara returned to her home in England adamant that her marriage was over and that she needed to start over but life is full of strange twists and turns, with Clara ultimately returning to Armstrong House to salvage the fragments of her marriage.

Those years were buried in history until Kate began to ask questions. What she unravelled shocked her to the core and she set about finally putting that period to rest. As Clara’s treatment at the hands of the Armstrong siblings is revealed, a picture is painted of a family in chaos, a family panicking about their future and their inheritance. Pierce Armstrong was a difficult individual. His treatment of the locals was abhorrent and his treatment of Clara was dubious at best. As the guerrilla activities of the Civil War took hold, it became difficult for trust to be demonstrated on any side leading to some dreadful and tragic actions. With multiple stories running in parallel a tale of deception and suspense slowly unfolds as the truth is gradually revealed. Kate and Nico are horrified by what they discover in the annals of history about the Armstrong family but will it be enough to save Armstrong House for future generations?

The Sins of Armstrong House is a scintillating read drawing the reader back into those tumultuous years of the 1920s in Ireland. With fascinating insights from many different sides of the camp, A. O’Connor lets the reader decide for themselves who was right and who was wrong. Desperate measures were taken at desperate times with tragedy unfolding across the divide. I haven’t read the other three books in this series but at no point did I feel confused or at a loss as A. O’Connor provides sufficient snippets and backstories to keep any new readers well-informed of past events.

This series has been described as ‘The Irish Downton Abbey‘ and it’s very easy to see why. It is extremely visual with the opulence of the estate in stark contrast to that of the locals. Also notable is the decline in power that some aristocrats found challenging to accept, in some cases leading to their relative poverty, alongside a title.

Highly enjoyable The Sins of Armstrong House is a fabulous page-turner. It is a vivid reading experience, perfect for lovers of historical fiction and for anyone with an interest in those fascinating and disturbing times of dramatic change in Irish history.

[ Thank you to Poolbeg Press for a copy of The Sins of Armstrong House in exchange for my honest review ]

[ Bio ]

A. O’Connor is the bestselling author of fifteen novels including The Armstrong House series which has been translated into German and Russian. Published by Poolbeg, O’Connor is an Irish Times and Amazon Top Five bestselling author. A graduate in History and English from the National University of Ireland Maynooth and Trinity College Dublin, the author has contributed to two books in aid of Barnardos Charity and played a key role in A.M.D.’s Fighting Blindness campaign.

A keen historian, O’Connor has also written four children’s books including a biography of Martin Luther King and of James Joyce which was named as one of EPIC Museum’s Top Ten children’s history books of 2020. The author is also a regular feature writer for publications including The Daily Mail and The Irish Times.