The Ballad of New York: Local author, musician and all-round good guy Derek Flynn, who is originally from Waterford City but is now living in Tramore, launched his seventh book on Wednesday last at Goma Gallery as part of the Waterford Imagine Festival 2021.
He is the author of six novels: BROKEN FALLS, THE DEAD GIRLS, THE DARK, and THE LOTUS EATERS – featuring ex-cop turned private detective, John Ryan – and the standalone thrillers, BLACK WOOD, and THE BONE LAKE but now he embarks on a new adventure with his latest novel ‘The Ballad of New York’.
“Stuck in a broken relationship and a dead end job a young man leaves Ireland and heads to New York to try to make it as a musician. What follows is at once a story about growing up in Ireland in the late 80s and 90s; and a testament to the power of music and the songs we carry with us throughout our lives”.
This will have a special resonance with so many people as they remember a time when emigration was massive in Ireland. Derek describes his latest work as a ‘Fictional Memoir’ calling on many of his memories to bring to life a new character.
“I came of age in the Ireland of the early 1990s that was the lining up on the dole queue, catching planes to England and America to find work, still trying to wrestle free from the grip of the Catholic Church and watching people die every day on the streets of Irish towns just a few miles to the north.”
Derek explains “I went to New York at the time with my wife and our young son so even though a lot of the happenings are real there are some artistic freedoms that I use to explore what could have happened”.
Derek tells us that he and his family left Ireland in the 90s ’just before the Celtic Tiger hit our shores and still suffering the hangovers from the 80s’ where lack of work was a real concern but where a dream could be realised with a look to distant shores.
It’s so easy to sit and listen to Derek and enjoy his stories, which he recalls with a kind of teenage glint in his eye, as if he is digging up fond memories of long ago. He has such an easy style of writing; you just don’t want to put the book down.
This is a must read for anyone who left Ireland back in the days of doom and gloom because the adventures in ‘The Ballad of New York’ are ones that we’ve all been through even though they might be different countries or different times, the sentiments are still the same.
So put on the kettle sit back and enjoy a journey and adventure through music, time and memories.
You can get your copy of ‘The Ballad of New York‘ at https://amzn.to/3pEu9Zd
It would make a great early Christmas present. Ho Ho Ho!
