Preface

This story is historical fiction. It reconstructs the lives of Patrick and John Donohue, my great grandfather and great-uncle respectively, using historical information and family memory. What they said and what they did precisely I invented to bring these people and their issues to life.

Patrick returned home from America’s worst war with only a shadow of his manhood intact. John had great difficulty tolerating heavy manual labor throughout a sixty-six hour workweek. The historical Patrick lived in twenty or more residences, a sign of his personal and financial instability, in some measure due to his alcoholism. He died in the Bath Soldiers Home, a residence for indigent war veterans. The Patrick of the book becomes a mature and contributing member of society. He is a composite of generations of struggling Donohue men and my hopes for myself.

The main female characters, Maire, Annabelle, Mary, and Millicent, are largely or entirely fictional. They are my way of saying their women are the major exogenous reason Donohue men have grown to greater selfhood.