''The Emperor of Ice-Cream'' is a 1965

coming-of-age novel In literary criticism, a ''Bildungsroman'' (, plural ''Bildungsromane'', ) is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood ( coming of age), in which character change is imp ...

by writer Brian Moore. Set in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

during the Second World War, it tells the story of 17-year-old Gavin Burke who, admitting “War was freedom, freedom from futures,” defies his

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and Catholic family by volunteering as an air raid warden with the largely Protestant ARP. The novel follows Gavin's journey as he realises that there are those on the other side of the city's bitter communal division whose friendships offer a wider horizon. Based in part on Moore's own wartime experiences, he described it as the most autobiographical of his novels. Moore left Belfast in 1943 to join the British Ministry of War Transport and worked himself for a period with the ARP in London. The book is dedicated, as were all of Moore's subsequent novels, to his partner Jean, who became his second wife two years after its publication. Its title is taken from

Wallace Stevens Wallace Stevens (October 2, 1879 – August 2, 1955) was an American modernist poet. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania, educated at Harvard and then New York Law School, and spent most of his life working as an executive for an insurance compa ...

' poem " The Emperor of Ice-Cream". The book was dramatised by the Northern Irish actor, playwright and theatre director Bill Morrison; the play was performed at Dublin's

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

in 1977.

References

1939 in Northern Ireland 1965 British novels 1965 Canadian novels André Deutsch books Canadian bildungsromans Fiction set in 1939 Irish bildungsromans New Canadian Library Novels by Brian Moore (novelist) Novels set during World War II Novels set in Belfast Canadian novels adapted into plays {{1960s-bildungsroman-stub