The Law of Dreams

Ireland 1846. A boy on a life-changing journey, which lives in the mind long after the final page.It is 1846, the height of the Great Hunger, and young Fergus is forced to grow up fast. Following the destruction of his home, he loses not only his family but everything he has ever loved.So begins an epic journey from innocence to experience that takes him from the west coast of Ireland to the docks and bordellos of Liverpool, and across the Atlantic. Along his journey he will meet bandit chiefs and railway navvies, ‘pearl boys’ and daring girls and the willful Molly, who will teach him the ways of the world.

Reviews of The Law of Dreams

"* "A fabulous book – makes history real enough to smell and so powerful in its emotional impact that I had to remind myself to breathe. This is the past, but made almost frighteningly present." – Kate Grenville * "This is a novel about hunger, literal and spiritual: Behrens's prose is so evocative, you can almost taste it." – Literary Review * "A top-notch historical novel: dramatic, wincingly violent, tender and extremely well-written.' Guardian 'I wound up loving this novel. The storytelling is terrific, the writing lyrical, often startling." – New Yorker * "There are scenes that will remain, forever, imprinted upon the reader's mind. Peter Behrens is a tremendously talented writer." – Alistair Macleod, author of No Great Mischief"