MARITA CONLON-McKENNA is one of Ireland’s most popular children’s authors. She has written many bestselling children’s books. Under the Hawthorn Tree, her first novel, became an immediate bestseller and has been described as ‘the biggest success story in children’s historical fiction.’ It has been reprinted numerous times since its first publication in 1990, and has reached a worldwide market through translations and foreign editions. Its sequels, Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home, which complete the CHILDREN OF THE FAMINE trilogy, have also been hugely successful. Marita’s other children’s novels have also received wide critical acclaim.
DONALD TESKEY drew the chapter-head illustrations. His paintings have been exhibited to great acclaim in Europe and North America.