Kerry Whelan, the author of See You On The Other Side has devised a neat way of guiding his reader into the story of Davy Gibson, a teenager caught up in love and war.
However, first we are introduced to a modern young accountant working in River House in Belfast. Daniel arrives on Monday morning and goes home that evening, promoted to audit manager with every chance of ending up as a partner in the firm - happy days.
Then he’s handed the list of clients he’ll be dealing with including, to his surprise, Belfast District Orange Lodge. Nevertheless it means he and Siobhan can get a mortgage on a house, which he hopes won’t be far from his club, Bredagh GAC.
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Two days later he’s waiting in reception of the Grand Lodge surrounded by flags and portraits, one of King William lll crossing the Boyne. It’s a whole new world to the young man who is more used to the religious icons in his home, the saints and the Virgin Mary.
Then he notices a papal banner in the Boyne portrait. Soon, sitting in the east Belfast lodge office, he learns about another world when Norman Johnston tells him the story of Joseph Shannon and David Gibson and the Great War.
Uneasy Friendship
This is not a story only of a world war, more of a class war; nor of Catholic verses Protestant, but more of a friendship between two young men who go off together to fight in the trenches. It’s an unlikely friendship born on the football pitch when the young Catholic stands in for the Protestant goalkeeper and remains as a trusted member of the Edenderry team.
The boys bond and meet two girls. Joe’s fancy is Kitty who works for the wealthy linen merchant, Sir James Arthur in Ballydrain House; Davy falls for his daughter Anna, and he pursues and wins the gracious young woman despite opposition from her family. Their love transcends parental disapproval but they have uneasy adventures with Joe and Kitty, a foursome of mixed religions and social background.
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Davy soon becomes important to the reader; his humour and his honesty, travelling up and down the gas works strait by lighter, a water bus carrying goods from Hilden through Stranmillis towards Belfast.
His story involves football, illicit contraband and above all serving with his mates in the trenches of Thiepval and the work he is forced into in the field hospitals of northern France. There his skill with a knife, learned in the butchery trade, won him praise and recognition.
Although difficult to read, this is a brutal and bloody example of ‘needs must’; it is an important part of the deadliest war in history.
Who Is Kerry Whelan?
The writer of See You On The Other Side obviously knows south Belfast inside and out. His descriptions of living on the banks of the Lagan are intense and colourful, as a boy in the 60s this was his playground. He remembers the real Ballydrain House, the old mansion and the lake that became Malone Golf Club.
But Kerry Whelan is a nom de plume... The man behind the name is Harry Graham. When we talked he explained: “We had a Kerry Blue terrier and he came from the Whelan family in Dublin, and when the pup misbehaved he was scolded and got his full name, Kerry Whelan. So I thought it a good name for me.”
A former lecturer at Queen’s University Belfast, Graham’s subject is history and politics. He has a deep appreciation of the First World War and of the 36th Ulster Division at the Somme. This knowledge has provided a vivid backdrop to his story, mostly factual with an understanding of the people who lived and fought not only for their country but for each other.
His father was a butcher in Shaftesbury Square so he knows what he’s talking about when he describes amputation and tying veins, His grandfather was a blacksmith so Davy’s father, the down to earth Tom Gibson, is immediately a warm trustworthy character. Anna’s father is every inch the aristocrat, a true blue gentleman of means, and when concerned about their children, the meeting of Sir James and Tom is both fascinating and funny.
And what of Anna and Kitty? They followed Davy and Joe to France and as nurses were in the thick of action alongside their men and their lives changed for ever. I will say no more except the ending is bittersweet.
See You On The Other Side is filled with local interest, especially to Belfast readers, but the history of the Great War will engage everyone and the characters become part of your life as you read. This is the first of a trilogy and an important first edition.
See You On The Other Side by Kerry Whelan is published by Malone Books, £9.99, and is available in bookshops and on Amazon
