Tom Phelan
will talk about his critically acclaimed memoir
We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know ItA Memoir of My Irish Boyhood
“A nimble exercise in storytelling in which Tom shapes his recollections into a series of richly detailed
vignettes….Plain, honest, funny, occasionally sad and rich in material
detail, this [is a] wonderful memoir….This is the real thing.”—Newsday
“Phelan’s memoir of his boyhood is exceptional…Phelan’s prose has an unpretentious beauty…With rich detail and sensitivity, We Were Rich translates for us a rural world that has disappeared.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“A tender recollection of growing
up on a farm in Ireland in the 1940s. In precise, vibrant prose, novelist
Phelan creates…a captivating portrait of a bygone time.”—Kirkus
Reviews, starred review
“At a time when we have so much and are
satisfied with none of it, the story of
We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It is one of grace and beauty.”—For the
Love of Books
Tom
Phelan’s We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know
It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood is a heartfelt and masterfully written account of
growing up in Ireland in the 1940s.
Tom, who was born and reared in Mountmellick, County
Laois, spent his formative years working with his wise and demanding father as
he sought to wrest a livelihood from a farm that was often wet, muddy, and
back-breaking.
It wasa time before rural
electrification, the telephone, and indoor plumbing; a time when the main modes
of travel were bicycle and animal cart; a time when small farmers struggled to
survive and turkey eggs were hatched in the kitchen cupboard; a time when the
Church exerted enormous control over Ireland.
We Were Rich and We Didn’t Know It recounts Tom’s upbringing in an isolated, rural
community from the day he was delivered by the local midwife. With tears and
laughter, it speaks to the strength of the human spirit in the face of life’s
adversities.
Published by Gallery Books / Simon and Schuster
Available at Amazon and bookstoresin hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats
