Life
1943- [var. 1934]; b. Malaya, returned to Ireland with parents in 1940, his father returning to Malaya, to be imprisoned by the Japanese; ed. Clongowes; freelance film reviewer for Irish Times, then film, ed., and Arts Editor; m. Rosaleen Linehan; author of Under the Durian Tree (1995), set in colonial Malaya in the 1930s; currently writing about a murder set in Dublin in the World War II [poss. the Vico Rd. boat killings]; The Safe House (1998), dealing with IRA activity in the period of World War II; The Safest Place (1998), concerning IRA man’s romance with singer in wartime Dublin.
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Works
Under the Durian Tree (London: Town House/Macmillan 1995), 201pp.; The Safe House (London: Town House/Macmillan 1998), 288pp.; The Safest Place (Dublin: Town House; London: Macmillan 1998), 268pp.
Also review of Lyle Leverich, Tom: The Unknown Tennessee Williams by in Irish Times (23 Dec 1995), p.15.
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Commentary
G. V. Whelan reviewing Under the Durian Tree (Town House 1995), in Books Ireland (mar 1996, p.56): story of Tim O’Hagan, civil servant in Malaya; marriage fails after death of small dg.; left by wife and son; harrowing trek leads to fall of Singapore; death of friend Tommy Evans; friendship with native driver Kassim; reviews regards narration from standpoint of central character as unengaging.
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