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The Garfield Conspiracy
Richard Todd, an award-winning writer, is outwardly successful but inwardly plagued by uncertainties. Worst of all, he can’t seem to write anymore. When a bright young editor, Jenny Lambe, arrives on his doorstep to work with him on his latest book, about the assassination of US president James Garfield, his life is sent spinning off in a new direction.
President Garfield was killed by Charles Guiteau, who was tried and hanged for the murder. But was he acting along, or was there a more sinister force at work? Richard hears Guiteau’s voice in his head, and as his relationship with Jenny deepens, he is visited by other characters in the drama. Are they helping Richard solve the mystery surrounding Garfield’s murder – or pushing him further towards the edge?
A remarkable, disturbing portrait of a middle-aged man torn between his carefully constructed life and new adventures which may beckon, in the present and the past, from one of Ireland’s most exciting emerging authors.
President Garfield was killed by Charles Guiteau, who was tried and hanged for the murder. But was he acting along, or was there a more sinister force at work? Richard hears Guiteau’s voice in his head, and as his relationship with Jenny deepens, he is visited by other characters in the drama. Are they helping Richard solve the mystery surrounding Garfield’s murder – or pushing him further towards the edge?
A remarkable, disturbing portrait of a middle-aged man torn between his carefully constructed life and new adventures which may beckon, in the present and the past, from one of Ireland’s most exciting emerging authors.
256 pages, Paperback
Published September 7, 2021
About the author
Owen Dwyer
7 books2 followersOwen Dwyer is a prize-winning short-story writer who has won the Hennessy Emerging Ficton prize, the Silver Quill (twice), the Smiling Politely Very Very Short Story Competition, the South Tipperary County Council Short Story Competition and the Biscuit Fiction Prize, and has had stories published in Whispers and Shouts magazine.
Number Games is his third novel, following The Agitator and The Cherrypicker. He has a degree in European Humanities. In 1992, Owen set up Irish Pensions and Finance, a pension provider which operates exclusively in the public sector. He lives in Dublin with his wife and their three children.
Number Games is his third novel, following The Agitator and The Cherrypicker. He has a degree in European Humanities. In 1992, Owen set up Irish Pensions and Finance, a pension provider which operates exclusively in the public sector. He lives in Dublin with his wife and their three children.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 23, 2021
Really enjoyed this. An unusual mix of psychological and historical fiction. The protagonist, Richard Todd is an acclaimed author with a bad case of writer's block, not helped by a mid-life crisis. The book takes a very unexpected twist towards the end. Superbly written by one of Irelands' exciting new writers.
April 3, 2026
The author Richard Todd wrote a successful novel in his youth, but he is struggling to come up with anything as good. His life with his wife Valarie and children is good, but nothing remarkable, although Valerie is the glue that keeps the house and the family together, enabling Richard to work on his next magnum opus, to keep them in the manner to which they have been accustomed, and to rehabilitate his career as a writer and cultural figurehead.
Jenny is sent by his publisher, to work on his new book, a fictional investigation into the assassination of President James Garfield, but as he researches, he finds that the characters of Garfield, his assassin Charles J Guiteau and many others from the time are intruding into his everyday waking hours.
As he starts an affair with Jenny and leaves the family home, things become even more complicated. An advance from his publishers doesn’t go anywhere near supporting two houses, and his writer’s block shows little sign of disappearing as the voices appear at the most inopportune of times.
The Garfield Conspiracy is many things. It is about self-doubt, and the pressure that one success can have on a career, about family life, about an affair that is both well-drawn and believable, the age gap is an issue, the differences in Jenny and Richard’s attitudes to life, literature and the situation that they find themselves in is also explored very well.
Richard is shown to be a deeply flawed character. Is his behaviour the selfish act of a man going through a mid-life crisis, or is it something more than that? We learn of his publishers, and their impatience with his writing, knowing that both their success and reputation rely on something better than he has written before is the only thing that will matter.
The denouement of the book, which shows some form of redemption for the characters, of forgiveness between Valerie and Jenny as they bring up Richard’s children in a family that is not always well blended is also well-drawn.
The Garfield Conspiracy is an interesting blend of many disparate genres. It is a family drama, a historical drama, and a psychological study of character and motivation. This is Owen Dwyer’s third published novel and he is known for his short stories. If the writing in The Garfield Conspiracy is anything to go by, he is a writer of depth, with an interesting and unusual way of looking at the world, and perhaps The Garfield Conspiracy will be the novel that attracts more readers his way.
Jenny is sent by his publisher, to work on his new book, a fictional investigation into the assassination of President James Garfield, but as he researches, he finds that the characters of Garfield, his assassin Charles J Guiteau and many others from the time are intruding into his everyday waking hours.
As he starts an affair with Jenny and leaves the family home, things become even more complicated. An advance from his publishers doesn’t go anywhere near supporting two houses, and his writer’s block shows little sign of disappearing as the voices appear at the most inopportune of times.
The Garfield Conspiracy is many things. It is about self-doubt, and the pressure that one success can have on a career, about family life, about an affair that is both well-drawn and believable, the age gap is an issue, the differences in Jenny and Richard’s attitudes to life, literature and the situation that they find themselves in is also explored very well.
Richard is shown to be a deeply flawed character. Is his behaviour the selfish act of a man going through a mid-life crisis, or is it something more than that? We learn of his publishers, and their impatience with his writing, knowing that both their success and reputation rely on something better than he has written before is the only thing that will matter.
The denouement of the book, which shows some form of redemption for the characters, of forgiveness between Valerie and Jenny as they bring up Richard’s children in a family that is not always well blended is also well-drawn.
The Garfield Conspiracy is an interesting blend of many disparate genres. It is a family drama, a historical drama, and a psychological study of character and motivation. This is Owen Dwyer’s third published novel and he is known for his short stories. If the writing in The Garfield Conspiracy is anything to go by, he is a writer of depth, with an interesting and unusual way of looking at the world, and perhaps The Garfield Conspiracy will be the novel that attracts more readers his way.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews