A fanciful, romantic tale of passion and faith that invites readers to the "God-graced mountains and plains" of Ireland. Maire, Gleannmara's warrior queen, finds her fierce heart is gentled when she takes a reformed mercenary -- a Christian, no less -- as hostage during a raid. At first she wonders what kind of God would make a fine warrior like Rowan of Emerys such a coward. But as she comes to know Rowan and witnesses the force of his beliefs, she learns that meekness and humility to the one true God are stronger than any blade of steel. And in the process, Maire discovers the transforming power of love and faith.
The historical heart of the novel set in 15th Century Ireland, is framed through the fresh eyes of Kelly, an ordinary woman who runs a café in Banbridge, County Down. Down to earth, deeply religious, the community turn to her in times of need. Kelly has been troubled by dreams of a time gone by. Her son, when he starts to speak, recites names from her visions. Distressed, Kelly turns to a hypnotherapist, and all is revealed. Those she is close to today happen to be the souls that joined her in her life as Maire. She realizes she is here, now, in this life to give back to those who fought alongside her. That the love from her heart and her food is her thanks to them. Sustaining those that once sustained her. Is she delusional, or is this reality? Long ago a girl was born to rule a Sept in Fermanagh, Ireland. Brought up with a sweet and delicate childhood, everything changed upon turning twelve, where upon her father gave her empowering gifts. Maire O’ Ciaragain her beloved stallion, a tamed buzzard, her father’s Druid and Ivan- a mountain of a man; embark on journeys into the other realms and combative challenges which forge her unbreakable resolve. Others join in Maire‘s cause in Armagh, they form an enviable force of destruction and revenge. Their goal: to rid Ireland of the cruel and oppressive English Earls. Maire leads her clansmen into revolt and shrinks The Pale, even killing the father of her young child without guilt. All that cross Maire come to a dastardly end. She gains a notorious reputation and a respect by the British for never taking prisoners. After other skirmishes, a time of quiet arises over the land. Until an attempt to kill her supernatural animal companions is somewhat thwarted. The perpetrators meet a grisly firestorm. Peace reigns.
During the seventeenth century, Holland's Golden Age, printing and publishing became a flourishing industry. In Leiden, where the presence of a university contributed to that success, Joannes Maire built up, in the course of more than fifty years, a list of at least 527 titles, especially in the fields of medicine, theology and classical philology. Although he is nowadays chiefly remembered as the original publisher of René Descartes's Discours de la methode (1637), his contemporaries knew him better from his numerous editions of works of Desiderius Erasmus. Maire's cooperation in his earlier years as a publisher with the Raphelengii and Thomas Erpenius, professor of Oriental languages in Leiden, and the availability of his books at the fairs of Frankfurt and Leipzig spread his name rapidly in academic circles. Dr Breugelmans's book has several interesting elements. It is the first one to pay attention to a single Leiden printer/publisher on such a large scale. Extensive bibliographical descriptions of Maire's books form the greater part of this publication and the inclusion of their title-pages on a CD-ROM is a novelty too. An introduction, giving substantial information on Maire and his authors and on other aspects of his list, such as the phenomenon of "parallel editions", supplies valuable further information on the working methods of a printer of that period. The inventory of Maire's estate proved to be an important source for his contacts with his colleagues, among them the Officina Plantiniana in Antwerp.
