Award-winning and best-selling Irish author Olive Collins will talk about her books and writing during Jaffrey’s upcoming Shamrock Festival Sunday, March 13, at 4p.m. in the Eppes Auditorium at Jaffrey’s Park Theatre, 19 Main St.
Collins will hold a question-and-answer session after her talk, and then the Flying Irish Flying Dancers will perform. Tickets are $6.
Collins is a historical fiction writer who grew up in Tipperary, Ireland. She has traveled extensively and lived abroad for years. Her first novel, “The Memory of Music,” tells the story of one family during Ireland’s most-turbulent years, the 1916 uprising and the subsequent War of Independence and Civil War. It was the winner of the Annie McHale Best Debut and remained in the bestselling charts for three months.
“The Tide Between Us” (a No. 1 best-seller on Amazon) is her second novel. It retraces Ireland’s long history with Jamaica. A quarter of Jamaicans’ claim Irish ancestry; most were deported during colonial times for committing little to no crimes. “The Tide Between Us” follows the story of one boy, an indentured servant deported to the cane fields of Jamaica and his subsequent generations. This epic novel spans 170 years.
Her third novel, “The Weaver’s Legacy,” is a family saga based in the American West. It explores the history of the Irish colonies in the West. Their ambition was to self-govern far removed from the prejudice of the prejudice of the cities. As the Great Indian War rumbles in the Black Hills, their colony remains neutral until one of their community is suspected of arming the Indians. Loyalties are tested as their own nameless war ensues.
The Flying Irish Dancers hail from Ashby, Mass. This school of Irish dance has been producing dancers ages 4 to adult since 1998.
The Park Theatre is fully accessible. For tickets and information, call the box office at 603-532-8888 or visit The Park Theatre website.