A Tent for the Sun: A Story of Extraordinary Love

A Tent for the Sun is the first novel in a series based upon the author's family history in 19th Century Ireland.

In A Tent for the Sun we first meet Tom Phalen and Meg Wynn, characters based on the author's third great-grandparents, Michael Maloney and Margaret Webb. The year is 1835. The place is Glynmor Castle in the valley of Clydagh Glyn, County Mayo, Ireland. The story is one of star-crossed lovers caught up in the class and religious struggles that set the stage for the near destruction of a way of life.

The Wynns and the Phalens co-exist peacefully within their designated classes until Meg and Tom fall in love. The lovers' illicit liaison explodes the false serenity of their lives and Meg's father, Lord Jeffrey Wynn, responds swiftly and violently, plunging the lovers into exile. Their life together is threatened from the beginning by a political system that reaches its long tentacles into the very heart of both castle and cottage.

A Tent for the Sun could be any family's story. The characters of Tom and Meg embody their land, their class cultures and their history. Tom, strong and handsome, is a man of quiet depth and fierce loyalty. Lovely Meg is the fine, graceful child of privilege. Filled with passion and adventure, their story takes the reader into the towns and kitchens of Western Ireland where Tom and Meg, each sustained by different faiths, take us on a spiritual journey as they face their uncertain future.