Nan O'Dea

Nan O’Dea is the main character and first person narrator of the novel. As a young girl, Nan grows up in England with her mother, father, and three sisters, Megs, Louisa, and Colleen. One summer, Nan’s parents allow her to spend the summer in Ballycotton, Ireland on the farm where her father grew up. For several months, Nan resides with her aunt and uncle who run the farm. At the same time that she is falling in love with the Ireland countryside, Nan is also falling in love with a young man named Finbarr. When she returns to Ballycotton again the following summer, she and Finbarr renew their friendship, and become more explicit about their romantic interest in one another. By the end of the summer, the Great War has begun, and Finbarr must leave for the front lines. He gives Nan a ring and...