Melody for Nora - Mark O’ Sullivan PRICE: IRP£ 3.99 PUBLISHER: Wolfhound Press ‘94

Nora is a survivor - and music is her lifeline. The Civil War has just begun - the times are explosive and threatening. Nora's life is changed by her mother's tragic illness and a drunken father who cannot cope. She is sent to an aunt and uncle in Tipperary who may as well be strangers.

Here, to her surprise is a cinema and an eccentric piano player, Alec, with a haunting meoldy. And here Nora finds herself forced to played an unexpected role in the unfolding intrigues and conflicts of her time.

Melody for Nora is a powerful novel of heartbreak in a troubled family, of living through civil war, and of a young girl's extraordinary resourcefulness.