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* Review coverage across national press

About the Author

Hamill is a well-known journalist and a popular novelist. His 1997 novel SNOW IN AUGUST appeared on bestseller lists (as well as the Booklist Editor's Choice list for that year).

Reviews

'This is a fable, it is a love letter - and it is essential' - IRELAND ON SUNDAY 'Rousting, ambitious...beautifully woven around historical events and characters' - Publishers Weekly 'Forever is fueled by the cruel dictates of history - corruption, exploitation, murder - but it wholeheartedly celebrates human goodness at every turn' - ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

As he stands in the wet summer grass of rural Ireland in 1728, five-year-old Cormac O'Connor (a.k.a. Robert Carson) doesn't know what fate has in store for him. Some 273 years and many adventures later, he will not only witness the destruction of New York City's Twin Towers but will finally accept the possibility of love. Cormac leaves his homeland in 1740 to avenge his parents' deaths at the hands of an English aristocrat. An encounter with an African princess aboard the slave ship on which he travels ultimately leads to his being made a babalawo (high priest) and given the gift of eternal life-with the stipulation that he never leave the island of Manhattan. Thus begins his journey as the city transforms itself from a small town to a metropolis. Hamill, former editor of the New York Daily News and the New York Post, tells a tale full of political, social, and racial tension but also of overcoming what sometimes seem impossible odds. Along the way, we meet George Washington, Boss Tweed, and the Dead Rabbits gang (as featured in the film Gangs of New York). While not exactly a light read, this book will nonetheless appeal to a wide audience and belongs in most public libraries, as well as academic collections of historical fiction. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/02.]-David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, FL Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.