Under the Hawthorn Tree

"Under the Hawthorn Tree" (ISBN 014036031X) is the first in the "Children of the Famine" Trilogy by Marita Conlon-McKenna, published by O'Brien Books. It was published in May 1990.

It centres around three siblings, Eily, Michael and Peggy, and is set during the Irish Potato Famine. At the opening of the book, in 1845, blight strikes the family plot. Their baby sister Bridget dies, and is buried under the hawthorn tree in the garden: in Irish mythology, the hawthorn is linked with the otherworld. Their father goes to find work, and when he does not return for several days, their mother leaves to find him. After some time, the children accept that both are dead and take an arduous journey to their aunts' home hundreds of miles away.

The book, originally written in English, has been translated into French, Dutch, German, Danish, Swedish, Italian, Japanese and Irish.

Under the Hawthorn Tree has been filmed for RTÉ and Channel 4, screened as a four-part series by Channel 4 in March 1999.

See also

* "Wildflower Girl", second part of the trilogy
* "Fields of Home", third part of the trilogy