The five books by Cole Moreton so far include the non-fiction titles Hungry for Home, My Father Was A Hero, Is God Still An Englishman? and The Boy Who Gave His Heart Away, plus the debut novel The Light Keeper. Click on each title to find out more, or read the descriptions below.
Hungry for Home is about exile and belonging and the Irish in America, investigating what became of the extraordinary community of people who once lived on the Great Blasket island. Published by Viking Penguin in 2000, it was shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for first book in any genre, alongside White Teeth by Zadie Smith. Neither of us won, but the dinner was nice.
My Father Was A Hero is about the silent generation of men and women who never, ever discussed their experiences in the war, some because they were traumatised but others because they had the time of their lives during that awful conflict. It’s also about my father and grandfather. Somebody once said it was like Angela’s Ashes with bombs. I’m not so sure. That’s another Viking Penguin book.
Is God Still An Englishman? How Britain lost its faith but found new soul was published by Little, Brown in 2010 and looks at the massive changes in British spirituality and cultural identity.
The Boy Gave His Heart Away followed on from the BBC Radio 4 series of the same name and tells the story of a modern medical miracle. Marc and Martin, two teenage boys, fall ill at the same time. One dies, sadly, but his heart is rushed across the country and put inside the other boy, whose life is saved because of it. That was published by HarperCollins in 2017.
Then in 2019 came The Light Keeper, a debut novel set in the stunning landscape around Beachy Head in Sussex, on the edge of a four hundred foot drop. A story of hope and longing.
Books by Cole Moreton 2021