Five Golden Rings and a Diamond

by Marie Seltenrych

The life of Niamh From a tinker to a horse lover, a tramp to a queen. A lonely soul to a fulfilled life... Nobody can tame Niamh Murphy. Her will is set to fly away and find love... She rejects her family's choices and dreams of her wonderful soul mate... Her life is not her own and family matters come first, so eventually she must relent to their forces. But her heart never stops longing for her true love. Prepared to fight everyone, she leaves home and finds herself in jail, courted by a priest, and caught up between the love for her child and her integrity. Hard decisions are made for her as she finds herself in a country far away. Her determination to find love and a new life surges and finally she is the happiest woman in the world. Her happiness does not last and soon she finds herself adrift once again, seeking what she once had and lost. Delving into her artistic nature, she finds solace, and the joy of her children keep her busy. One day, her life is turned upside down again as a visit from a stranger takes her on a new trajectory. Can love come to her in middle age when the bloom of youth has passed...or will her dreams fade away?

406 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jeanette]

Marie Seltenrych's Five Golden Rings and a Diamond was a fun read.

Fifteen-year old Niamh Murphy is from a Tinceard clan (Irish tinkers) in the 1960s, with little access to education despite her dreams for something better. When her father decides it's high time she married a man of his choice, Niamh runs away and almost finds a new life and love before it's snatched from her. Over the decades her beauty, naivety and good heart wins the attention of more than one man -- but will she find her destiny and lasting happiness as she is forced to leave her home, faces the consequences of her rash actions, and is separated from those she loves?

While the first few chapters have almost a fairy-tale feel about them, I enjoyed Niamh's story in it's ingenuity and humour. The events are told from Niamh's point of view and, despite disasters and tragedy, she certainly has the luck of the Irish especially when it comes to men. (She reminds me of Forest Gump to some extent). She is a likeable character, always big-hearted, and I enjoyed the description of Irish Tinker life and life in Queensland in the 60s and 70s.

[Marie Seltenrych]

I learned heaps from this book because I wrote it. Throughout its pages you will discover strength where only weakness appears, love where disollusionment lies; a protagonist that is hurled through life and who still lands on her feet is our Niambh, a young Irish tinceard who longs for more of life, and that is what she gets in this book. Bawdy at times, but heartwarming, funny, Irish, Australian and it has a kind of happy ending after some tragedies. Needs a sequel and I am working on that in between writing two other, no, three other works.