Editions

An Evil Cradling

An Evil Cradling

Brian Keenan went to Beirut in 1985 for a change of scene from his native Belfast. He became headline news when he was kidnapped by fundamentalist Shi'ite militiamen and held in the suburbs of Beirut for the next four and a half years. For much of that time he was shut off from all news and contact with anyone other than his jailers and, later, his fellow hostages, amongst them John McCarthy.

Reviews

  • Incredibly moving.

    Gina McKee, Daily Express

  • An early nineties classic... It reminds you of the privilege of freedom

    Joseph Fiennes, Daily Express

  • There may have been more important books than Brian Keenan's An Evil Cradling, but its thoughtfulness and delicacy of feeling are unforgettable. Four years of savage captivity in Lebanon have been transmuted into understanding, not bitterness: a remarkable achievement

    Daily Telegraph

  • From the horror has come something wonderful. An Evil Cradling is a great book... it has been created from harsh reality, and it has been created by a true writer... With the publication of An Evil Cradling, Brian Keenan is not letting the world forget. This is a mighty achievement by a magnificent writer

    Frank McGuinness, Irish Times

  • Scriptural in its resonances and its broad artistry, while being as gripping as an airport thriller

    Observer

More from this Author

About the Author

Brian Keenan

Brian Keenan was born in Belfast in 1951. An Evil Cradling is the story of his four years' captivity in Beirut and is recognized as a non-fiction classic. He is also the author of the novel, Turlough, two travel books, Between Extremes (with John McCarthy) and Four Quarters Of Light and his own memoir, I'll Tell Me Ma. He lives with his family outside Dublin.

Brian Keenan

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