The Law of Dreams

The Law of Dreams tells the story of a year in the life of Fergus O'Brien during the Great Potato Famine in Ireland during the 1840s. It takes us from his home on a mountaintop, which he leaves after witnessing his family all burning to death - deaths which were in fact murders that committed by his landlords. From there he travels to Liverpool, then Wales and onto a harrowing boat journey across the Atlantic to America. Along the way Fergus meets all manner of people who, like himself, are all struggling to survive. He encounters violence, treachery, thieves and prostitution - at one point being groomed as a `pearl' boy. On his travels he falls in love 3 times, each time ending up with a broken heart. Fergus has very few moments of joy and often wishes it were possible to live inside his head with his dreams.
Peter Behrens transports the reader back in time, to a world that was full of hardship, sorrow and tremendous losses. It teaches us how resilient the human spirit can be in order to overcome the horrors we sometimes have to face. Behrens has written a fantastic piece of historical fiction and Fergus's story will stay in my mind forever.