Books Academy proudly showcased J. Michael Moriarty’s book, “Hemingway’s Retreat to Ireland”, at the prestigious 2024 Frankfurt International Book Fair, held from October 16 to 20 in Frankfurt, Germany.
The Frankfurt Book Fair provided an opportunity for outstanding books to shine this year. Both readers and publishing industry leaders were drawn to these pieces because of their compelling themes and distinctive viewpoints. They prompted discussions, inspired new perspectives served as a reminder of the broad appeal of storytelling.
“Hemingway’s Retreat to Ireland” by J. Michael Moriarty imagines a different fate for the legendary writer Ernest Hemingway. In this unique narrative, Hemingway, defeated by life and grappling with depression, makes a life-altering decision to fake his own death on July 2, 1961.
While the world believes he is gone, Hemingway assumes a new identity as Matt Fitzgerald and retreats to Ireland, living in a castle with a distant cousin of President John F. Kennedy.
This captivating story follows Fitzgerald as he embarks on a journey through Ireland, meeting literary greats like John B. Keane, Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney horse trainer Vincent O’Brien. Along the way, he contemplates his former life, reconnecting with his passion for storytelling and grappling with his inner darkness.
In the beautiful landscapes of Ireland, Fitzgerald searches for peace, but his true struggle is whether he can find a purpose beyond his past fame.
With vivid depictions of Ireland’s castles, pubs rolling hills, Hemingway’s Retreat to Ireland offers an engrossing what-if scenario for Hemingway enthusiasts and fans of historical fiction. It raises profound questions about the will to live, the search for meaning the transformative power of reinvention.