Hunger

Belfast, 1980. Aileen Devlin and Thomas Morrow have forged a fragile life together across their city's bitter divide, but as a new decade dawns, the "little room" they have built to protect their young daughter, Claire, is threatened by a conflict that refuses to stay outside.As the devastating Maze prison hunger strikes, the Anglo-Irish Agreement, and relentless sectarian violence reshape Northern Ireland, the public war presses against the private doors of both the Catholic Devlins and the Protestant Morrows. History continues to batter their homes, turning ordinary objects-and ordinary lives-into symbols.In the divided streets, hard men like republican organiser Declan and loyalist defender Billy peddle certainty, seeking to weaponise the community's fear and grief. They wait in the shadows of funerals, riots, and political failures, ready to transform vulnerable young men like Ciaran into "useful" instruments of their struggles.Against this encroaching darkness stands the quiet, fierce resistance of ordinary households. Guided by an unspoken maternal strength, Aileen, Kathleen, and Elsie wage a daily war to keep their families human, enforcing a different set of laws to survive the decade: bread before hunger, names before numbers, and people before causes. Hunger is Book Two of The Troubles Trilogy, continuing the sweeping historical family saga about the devastating cost of making suffering "useful," and the extraordinary courage required to close the door on hatred and simply feed the person sitting across the table.