The Kevin and Sadie series is a 1970s set of young adult novels by Scottish novelist
Joan Lingard
Joan Lingard MBE (8 April 1932 – 12 July 2022) was a Scottish writer. Lingard was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, but spent many years living in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Career
Lingard wrote novels for both adults and children. She is know ...
. The books, set in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
against the backdrop of the
Northern Ireland conflict
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
, deal with a young couple; Sadie Jackson, who is from the
Ulster Protestant
Ulster Protestants ( ga, Protastúnaigh Ultach) are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43.5% of the population. Most Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived from Britain in the ...
community, and Kevin McCoy, who is from the
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...
community. This couple finds love despite the various physical and psychological barriers in their society.
Overview
Lingard decided to write the first book prior to the eruption of violence in Northern Ireland in late 1969 after hearing a Protestant family friend tell a joke that she deemed to be
sectarian
Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...
.The story continues for Joan Lingard’s star-cross’d lovers, The Herald, 12 July 2010 Despite concern from her literary agent that publishers would reject the material on account of its coverage of political and religious strife, the manuscript for the first book, ''The Twelfth Day of July'', attracted interest from
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year. The book dealt with the beginning of the romance between the main characters at the beginning of
The Troubles
The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...
. The book was Lingard's first novel aimed at younger readers and her first commercial success.On home ground,
Times Educational Supplement
''Tes'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a weekly UK publication aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity that in 19 ...
, Geraldine Brennan, 24 November 1999
The sequel, ''Across the Barricades'', sees the couple reunite 3 years later.The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing, Volume 4 , Angela Bourke, p1183
The remaining books deal with the couple's developing romance, despite disapproval from their families, and their eventual move to England and secret marriage. Lingard considered writing a sixth book, in which the couple returned to a post-conflict Belfast, but judged that divisions in the city still existed.
As of July 2010, the books had sold 1.3 million copies worldwide and had been translated into several languages.
Books
* The Twelfth Day of July (1970)
* Across the Barricades (1972)
* Into Exile (1973)
* A Proper Place (1975)
* Hostages to Fortune (1976)