Redemption: A Novel (ISBN 0060183330)

A Good Story:
My only regret with this book is that I think I read it out of order. I believe that Trinity was the first of a two part story. But even by itself it stands as a really compelling story. I wasn't prepared for the places it would take me. It was surprising but nice to be transported to New Zealand. And the story of a very bloody battle (Gallipoli) which I had no previous idea of. I first thought that Leon Uris would only be an author of middle east books (having read Exodous and The Haj). But it was a pleasant surprise to find he is a master story teller.

Gallipoli novel derailed?:
The 200 or so pages in this novel that Leon Uris devotes to the battle of Gallipoli Peninsula in WWI are very well-written and extremely interesting. I have to wonder if Uris originally planned to write an entire book about Gallipoli but didn't have the energy left in his old age. He knew he'd make a pile of money with a sequel to his popular book "Trinity" so he stuck the Gallipoli story into the sequel. The first 300 pages of this book are a rehash of Trinity and I skimmed over them very quickly. The parts after Gallipoli are mildly interesting but not worth spending a lot of time on.

A wonderful ending to Uris' book Trinity.:
I read this book quite awhile ago, and picked it up agin to skim through. This is a wonderful epic saga of the Larkin family. It spreads across about 25 years, and frrom Ireland, to New Zealand to Australia to Egypt. It also encompasses the First World War. We also see a young Winston Churchill who can almost single-handedly be blamed for the Gallipoli fiasco. This is a book that takes you by the throat and won't let go until you turn the final page. I think it is a true classic and is a fitting finish to the also truly wonderful "Trinity".

sequel to Trinity-Redeemtion:
I was disappointed that the first 52 chapters reviewed and repeated what he had written in Trinity. I should have started at chapter 53. I was determined to get through both books and I did. I have read almost all of Uris' books and want to read them all. bb

Continued saga from novel "Trinity.":
Trinity was based upon Uris's Irish experiences. While living in Dublin, he had written a photo-essay entitled Ireland, a Terrible Beauty. Trinity was a chronicle of a Northern Irish farm family from the 1840s to 1916, whose fate is connected with two other families, one representing the British aristocracy and the other coming from Scotland. The central characters are a young Catholic rebel and a Protestant girl, who try to find their own place in the country divided by religion and wealth. The story of the Larkin family continued in The Redemption. In these works Uris developed further one of his central themes, the restorative capacity of love and forgiving. Also the situation in the Northern Ireland, from Ireland to New Zealand, Egypt, and Gallipoli.