First published 2017
Roger Casement and Herbert Ward meet as young men in the Congo, forging a bond that will span four decades and four continents. Ward marries Sarita Sanford, an Argentinian-American heiress, and builds a prosperous family life in France. Casement pursues his humanitarian work while concealing his homosexuality and growing increasingly involved in Irish independence. As the years pass, the two friends find themselves pulled in opposite directions by history and conviction. Ward embraces his comfortable European existence while Casement commits himself to the dangerous cause of Irish patriotism. Their wives, careers, and political beliefs create widening rifts in what once seemed an unbreakable friendship. Murray traces how imperceptible changes accumulate over time, showing how two men who shared youthful adventures can become strangers to each other. The novel explores how personal loyalty collides with political conviction in the early twentieth century.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, biographical-fiction
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Argentina, Congo, Europe, France, Ireland
Period: Early 20th Century
489 pages · Paperback · Grove Press
Content warnings: colonialism