Red, White and Green

The Atlantic Ocean separates Irish brothers Connor and Thomas Cork. As Connor walks the streets of London, and Thomas looks at the setting Texas sun, they are both haunted by a terrible event which has driven them apart forever.



Early in the Second World War, Connor's son Pat, and Thomas' son Bill, leave for war-torn Europe. Neither young man knows that fighting on the same side but in a different uniform is his cousin. Both are shaped by events that permanently mark their fathers, of which they know nothing about.



In this his debut novel Joseph Lane grapples with the enduring legacy of past deeds through a saga that spans several generations and several countries, while focused squarely on the destiny of one, Ireland. Through Bill and Patrick Cork, whose military action takes them from the infantry to Special Forces, Lane shows how we are marked by our fathers' sins, even if we should never be judged by them. In Charles Lewis, readers see how a victim of political violence can recover and channel his anger into something good. Through the frightening figure of Oppenheim, Lane explores an age-old and still relevant moral dilemma; does the end justify the means?



Red, White and Green is ultimately a story of redemption, how good can triumph only when we have the courage to face the past.