Although the story is set over fifty years ago now, it has a timeless quality. Mr Predergast is an ageing Anglo-Irishman, living in small town Ireland. His is a melancholy existence, living alone in his decaying mansion with only a drunken gardener called Sean for company. His wife has died and he is estranged from his only child Sarah, and there is only an irritating Rector chivvying him about moving to London to be near his daughter. His memories are no solace: his childhood was marred by the death of his brother at Gallipoli, and his mother made it obvious that the wrong child had survived. His adulthood and marriage to Clare was a peripatetic life, never settling anywhere, making no friends, achieving nothing of note.

Into this loneliness comes Diarmid, a local lad whose awful parents want to offload him into work at the manor. Mr Predergast is dismissive. Apart from the fact that he can’t afford to pay Diarmid and he already has a gardener of sorts, he is ossified in his isolation. Quite properly, he sends Diarmid packing, with advice to pay more attention to schooling than he has done so far, if he really wants to be in the army.

But Diarmid worms his way into Mr Prendergast’s solitary life, and soon the old man finds himself enjoying reminiscing about games of toy soldiers with his brother, and he likes introducing Diarmid to books and poetry and history. This is all ok up to a point, but Diarmid’s parents still haven’t offloaded him and he’s still wagging school. What turns out to be even more significant is that is Sean is jealous… and then Diarmid runs away from home.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/07/01/the-captains-and-the-kings-by-jennifer-johns... ( )