About the Book

Life Song: An Irish Odyssey opens in Wessex in 979 A.D.

In 10th-century Britain, a band of Viking soldiers from the Dublin area is assigned to raid at random along the Wessex coast. Their purpose is to disturb the efforts of the English monarch, King Aethelred, who is attempting to unite the nobility more fully under their feudal government, and hinder the Danish incursion into Britain.

Owyn is the nine-year-old son of a blacksmith living with his family outside the local nobleman’s castle.

The band of Viking raiders encounters only a small band of peasants in an isolated enclave. They kill most of the villagers and take the females as slaves. But they did not count on one survivor. Young Owyn is discovered and rescued by a band of Benedictine monks who take him to their abbey. There they heal and raise him. Owyn’s mother and his sisters were taken prisoner in the raid.

The boy dreams that his father charges him with a mission to reunite his family. How this tragedy affects Owyn’s resolve, proves that even an ordinary person can do extraordinary things, as he undertakes the journey to find his lost loved ones.

This epic story of warring cultures, politics, and human relationships transcends the generations.

About the Author

Susan O’Neill retired to the Fort Myers, Florida area, where she is a member of the Gulf Coast Writers Association. This is her first book.