FRESH from seeing his autobiographical work Paperboy brought to life on the Lyric Theatre stage, author Tony Macaulay is set to launch his debut novel Belfast Gate.
The satirical comedy drama is set at a fictional peace gate in Belfast. Twenty years after the peace process, scores of so-called ‘peace walls’ continue to separate Catholic and Protestant neighbourhoods.
We are introduced to the character of Jean Beattie whose grief turns to anger when police refuse to open the peace gate at the end of her street to allow her best friend’s funeral procession through to her church on the other side of the peace wall. Comforted by friends Roberta, Bridget and Patricia from the cross-community pensioners’ club, Jean vows that the gate will be opened.
Tony spoke of how he was inspired to put pen to paper following his work with a cross-community women’s group at Forthspring Intercommunity Group, situated on Springfield Road’s peace line, across the road where Tony’s father grew up.
Tony will launch Belfast Gate on Monday evening at Fountain Street’s Waterstones store. Speaking ahead of the launch he described his novel as “totally different from anything I have written and published before”.
“It’s my first book set in the present day and it’s written in the present tense. It’s the voice of a narrator, a fictional story rather than a personal memoir. However, the tone, humour and underlying themes are similar to my previous books.”
He continued: “After more than 20 years of peace, the peace walls continue to divide the good people of Belfast, as they have done for 50 years. I want people to consider the possibility of a future without walls and, importantly, to laugh them down.”
Belfast Gate will be available to purchase from Monday September 16 priced at £10 and is available from all good bookstores and online including Amazon Kindle and audiobook.
