Bog Child by Siobhan Down was a page turner, although a few of the Irish expressions slowed me down a bit. I knew next to nothing about the politics of Ireland especially in 1981 when this story is set. I got more of a grasp of the ordinariness of people involved in political conflicts by reading this book. I could easily imagine the characters involved. 16 year-old Fergus McCann is an athlete and a student. He finds the body of a girl in a peat bog – she’s met a violent end. Fergus dreams about her. Themes involving the final days of the AD 80 bog child Mel become intertwined with those of Fergus who becomes involved with the resistance. From the fly leaf, the story involves, “sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the unflinching strength of the human spirit.”