We’re into week 3 of Nonfiction November: Be/Ask/Become an Expert (if you need an introduction to Nonfiction November, please visit the original post on Julie Merilatt’s blog JulzReads. This week, I hope to be early enough to get my name in on the link-up, hosted by Katie at Doing Dewey

This past summer I had the pleasure of reading Celtic Knot, a fictionalized account of the assassination of Thomas Darcy McGee.

In school, we learned about McGee’s death, significant because his was the first political assassination in the new country of Canada, taking place just eight months after Confederation. Beyond that and the fact Fenians were allegedly somehow involved, I knew nothing. Although I realize that Ann Shortell, the author of Celtic Knot, took certain liberties with the facts as in any historical fiction, I am certain that I understand a lot more about the political situation in Canada at that time now that I’ve read this than I ever learned in school!

But, I’ve decided, not enough. Over the past 50 years, I’ve owned several cats, all of whom have been named after Canadian historical figures: (Sir Charles) Tupper, (Allen Napier) MacNab, Ikie (Isaac Brock), Laura (Secord), Nelly (McClung), (Pierre) Elliott (Trudeau), Fenian, and not least (Thomas D’Arcy) McGee. I think I have an unfed hunger for Canadian history!

My interest piqued, I found this two-volume biography of McGee by David Wilson: Passion, Reason, & Politics 1825-1857 and Volume 2 The Extreme Moderate 1858-1868. There are also free ecopies of McGee’s own writings: his poetry and Popular History of Ireland.

So – time and cost permitting – I’m going to become somewhat of an expert on Thomas D’Arcy McGee. Thanks to author Ann Shortell for rekindling that flame.

P.S. The protagonist in the novel Celtic Knot is McGee’s (fictional) Irish Catholic maid Clara Swift who was the closest to a witness to the murder that there was. Fifteen-year-old Clara is intelligent and observant and it is through her eyes that we see the tangled mess that is motivation for the alleged killer, the investigation, arrest and then trial of Jimmy Whelan. If you have any interest at all in Canadian history, political or not, I highly recommend that you read Celtic Knot.

Thanks to James who blogs at The Mirimichi Reader who brought this book to my attention, and to the author who kindly sent me a beautiful hardcover copy to read in exchange for my unbiased (except for my love of Canadian history!) review.

P.P.S. The links are affiliate links so I will receive a small percentage of any purchase you make after clicking through from this blog.