Consequences of the Heart

D-Day on a Normandy beach. A flip of a coin seals the destinies of two men in love and war. From one of Ireland's finest writers, Consequences of the Heart is a glorious and epic story of passion and fate, of cowardice and bravery, of adultery and of murder.

Chud Conduit, wild grandson of the most powerful businesswoman in Monument, and Jack Santry, gentle Anglo-Irish heir to the estate on the hill, are the most unlikely of friends. United by their love for Rosa, beautiful daughter of the town bookmaker, they are bound by a sudden catastrophe that flings all three adolescents from their Garden of Eden. Chud and Jack meet again on the beach at Normandy, where actions determine the course of the rest of their lives in ways that none of them can escape. One wins Rosa's hand in marriage, the other her eternal affection, sealing their destinies together over six decades, tangled in a triangle of love that is stronger than social convention and well beyond the law.

PRAISE FOR PETER CUNNINGHAM'S NOVELS:

"So brilliant, so moving, so enchanting.... The Sea and the Silence is a love story, and a war story, and it's beautifully told in that lilting, low-key style that syncopates the work of so many great Irish writers, such as William Trevor, John McGahern and John Banville." - Julia Keller, Chicago Tribune

"A terrific novel. Moving and hugely entertaining." - Roddy Doyle

Tapes of the River Delta: "A marvelously lyrical, powerfully erotic novel." - Publishers Weekly

Love in One Edition: "Beautifully written with moments of calm insight." - London Times

Peter Cunningham grew up in Waterford, the city on which Monument, the town at the center of Consequences of the Heart, is based. His previous work includes a number of thrillers, written both under his own name and under pseudonyms. His novels include The Sea and the Silence (part of the Monument series), Who Trespass Against Us, Taoiseach and Capital Sins.

Peter Cunningham (http://www.petercunninghambooks.com/) is a member of Aosdána, the Irish Academy of Letters, and lives in Kildare, Ireland.