Northern Ireland in the 1950s, a decade before the troubles. When Rosaleen Johnson, aged 15, is victimised by the nuns at her school, she quits and goes to work at a factory in a Protestant part of Belfast. Bible studies with her colleagues lead her to meet the charismatic Reverend Doctor Lesley Prichard - who delivers anti-Catholic oratory at his packed church gatherings. Her sister Marie worries - especially when she strikes up a relationship with Daniel, one of the Reverend Prichard's proteges. Things come to a head when her hot-tempered father opens a letter from Daniel to Rosaleen. The confrontation spills over into violence and she runs away and goes into hiding under the Reverend's protection. Her disappearance unleashes forces in the wider community. Under the gaze of the media, the church leaders and politicians align themselves around the Johnson family. Who will prevail? Rosaleen, no longer a minor on her next birthday? The priests who want to protect their sphere of influence? The confused parents, torn between anger, love and fear of losing their daughter? No one emerges unscathed from this moving story of youthful self-discovery - and self-deception.
About the Author: Martin Boylan was born in Belfast and grew up on the Falls Road in the fifties. As a boy, he witnessed first hand the conversion wars waged by the Catholics and Protestants, and after being shanghaied by an uncle, he became a participant. The nine year old sold bundles of The Irish Catholic newspaper to the crowds outside the Clonard monastery on Thursday evenings and, between the novenas, he delivered the newspapers around the local streets - Bombay Street, where the first pogrom of the modern Troubles started, was one of those streets. From the pulpit, during the novenas, the Communists got a right kicking, but a lot of fire was also directed at the Protestants. One of the novenas, the nine o clock, was specifically designed to entice and convert Protestants back into the true fold. The congregation that streamed into this novena always looked and acted a bit different and there was a special effort to sell The Irish Catholic to these potential recruits. From that time, one incident might give a flavour of the sectarian atmosphere. Mischievously, the young Catholic newspaper seller revealed to one of his street pals that he wasn't really a Catholic, but rather, he was a Protestant: flogging the Irish Catholic newspapers was really a front for his Protestantism. The effect on his pal was like admitting to him that he was a murderer. The author was educated at Queen's university and emigrated to Canada for three years, where he had short stories broadcast on the CBC. On returning to Belfast, at the height of the Troubles, he did a teaching stint at a school on the Falls Road. Then he moved to Dublin. Four of his stage plays have been produced - "Mick and Ed"(The Abbey Theatre), Thompsons(The Abbey Theatre), Georgina(The United Arts club) and The Making of Father Sullivan(Anglo-Irish theatre, Tubingen, Germany). The latter received the O Z Whitehead award for playwrighting. He has had over twenty radio plays produced by the BBC, RTE and Channel 4 radio - and radio comedy series. He also has a screenplay credit "Thompsons" for RTE. He lives in Dublin with his wife, Catherine, and has two daughters. The Jealous God is his first published novel. Councillor O Toole, an eight half hour radio comedy series, was broadcast six times by Channel 4 radio - the novel and the radio series are available on his website martinboylan.com