The Rainbow Singer by Simon Kerr

The Rainbow Singer

Simon Kerr

The tension between the two sides in Northern Ireland is captured in the thoughts and actions of a teenager who is ultimately incapable of fighting the prejudice he has been born into. Although not unexpected, the resulting act of revenge is chilling.

Extract
Later on that afternoon, when the rehearsals were more or less sorted, I started to get paranoid again. The ol' doubts came back. If I lost my hate for Taigs who would I be? You could say, and my lawyers did at the trial, that's why I did what I did to Peter and Seamus. You see tit-for-tat is all the rage in Ulster. It happens most every day .... The violence of our love for each other will not let us separate, will not let us divorce and move away to begin again. After all who would we be without each other? No ones.
Parallels
  • The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler
  • Death in Summer by William Trevor