Once in Another World

by Brendan John Sweeney

Dublin, March 1937. Holland, an idealistic young IRA recruit, is offered a strange assignment. He is told to guard and spy on a sinister Hungarian businessman and Sabine his secretary – a Jewish refugee.

The mission tests Holland’s loyalties and his idealism to the utmost and ends with a sordid shooting match in a field in England. Holland finds himself fleeing with Sabine into the depths of the Irish countryside, where treacherous swamps and dense woods protect them from their pursuers. An intense love affair between two young people from vastly different worlds suddenly becomes possible.

But Holland’s closest friend in the Movement knows his mind too well, and seeks him out, leading to a confrontation as fateful and tragic as any Irish myth.

245 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2013

About the author

Raised in County Cavan, by an Irish-speaking father from Donegal and a Scottish mother, Brendan Sweeney has always felt slightly out of place.

After studying journalism at Rathmines, and a spell working as a feature writer for the now-defunct Sunday Press and other Irish publications, Brendan headed for the Continent where he wandered between countries as diverse as Spain, Germany, Denmark and Norway picking up languages and generally refusing to settle down. En route he taught English to the Spanish Olympic team, washed dishes in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, worked as a news presenter for Deutsche Welle in Cologne, and ran human rights projects for a Danish organisation in Yemen and Iraq.

In the meantime he wrote a wide range of articles on subjects as diverse as violence in Danish supermarkets and the influence of Celtic myths on Scandinavian literature. Brendan’s first fictional work Once In Another World was inspired by his MA dissertation at the University of Copenhagen on the topic of IRA films, and by his abiding interest in myth, nationalism and the roots of political violence.

Reviews

[Lisbeth Haugeby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyable read set in Ireland during the 1930s about a romance between a jewish refugee fleeing from Nazi Germany and an IRA activist. Exciting and moving story. I hope there will be a sequel!

[Bill Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

History mystery set in Ireland and England in 1937. An IRA gunman falls in love with a German Jewish refugee woman. This well-written and often touching book is primarily a love story: the two principals have little background in common, but they are pushed together in an attempt by competing factions to obtain the Jewish refugee money gathered by their boss, who is playing several sides against the middle. The bulk of the plot concerns the efforts of the two lovers to avoid the murderous sides and escape the machinations of all the double crossers they encounter, but more poignantly the book concerns itself with man's attempt to overcome the woman's reluctance. He is love and dedicated to saving her from their various enemies, while she is most focused on her horrid past. attempting to find peace and security in an environment proving almost as hostile as that of the one she left behind in Nazi Germany. The historical aspects of the plot are skillfully woven throughout the book, providing enough detail for the context of the plot, but never distracting the reader from the story of two lovers trapped in a very dangerous and treacherous world.

[Fergal O'Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once in Another World is a cracking read. I found it hard to put down and my wife is now reading it, jealous that it kept me absorbed for a few days. If you only have a hazy understanding of history this book fills in some important gaps - just by telling a tale. It is very well researched and the main character, Holland, is totally believable. I kept thinking of Liam Neeson (a younger version) playing the lead role in a movie version of this book!
Indeed, the story is very filmic and the author delivers it as a fully fleshed movie premise, in my opinion. The descriptions of Dublin, and other parts of Ireland, in the late 1930s is spot on and you can feel, smell and hear the streets and pubs come alive. My only constructive feedback is that the pace drops when Holland and Sabine are on the run and their burgeoning sexual tension is played too long. These are minor considerations because this author really knows his craft and delivers a tour de force of a history-mystery thriller. Highly recommend it.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in Another World is an excellent debut novel set in Dublin and Meath in 1937. Sweeney captures the political intrigue and games of the time, as well as the atmosphere, sense of place, and social relations of urban and rural Ireland. The historical contextualisation is very well done and is woven into the story without it ever feeling like a history lesson. Indeed, the narrative is all tell and no show, and the prose is nicely crafted. The plot is well executed, effectively divided into three acts, with urban and political scenes bookending a rural sojourn. The register in the rural part of the novel is slightly different, focusing on the awkward relationship between Holland and Sabine, and whilst evocative it would have be interesting to get a little more of their back stories. Nevertheless, the characterisation is strong and by keeping the focus tightly on the lead characters of Holland, Sabine, and a handful of others, Sweeney is able to flesh out their interactions and personalities. Overall, a very enjoyable story that is easy to imagine being adapted as a television drama or a play.

[Billy O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once In Another World is a different take on 1930s Ireland. Sweeney has clearly done his research well, conveying the atmosphere of Dublin and rural Ireland with small but telling details. The plot centres on the somewhat awkward relationship between two people who are both on the run: Holland, a former IRA man with an ambivalent relationship with the Movement, and Sabine, a German Jew fleeing from the Nazis. The mutual ignorance of the two protagonists towards each other’s culture and background, and their alternating antipathy and attraction to each other, adds a bitter-sweet humour. There is something of Le Carré in the convoluted plot, which holds the reader’s interest right to the final page, and the story is dramatic enough to deserve a film treatment. In short, a good read.

[AM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It's exciting and you get the feeling that you're right there, in the thirties Dublin and in rural Ireland, with main characters that you fully believe. The love story is very moving and there surely is a touch of myth in this impressive literary work. I hope that it'll soon be adapted to the screen. It would make a wonderful film.

[Gail Mchugh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not understand the whole book. I liked Holland but did not get to really know him. I could have liked Sabine but again did get to know her. This story certainly does not speak well of the Irish during that horrid time.

[Ahad]

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