Interesting-sounding new books for 2007, per their reviews: 1. "Hannah's Shame" - A True Life Story, by Derek LEINSTER, 42 Southey Road, Rugby CV22 6HF, England. www.derekleinster.co.uk. ISBN 09551457-08-8 p/b. "The story told in this book is heartrending. In 1941, in Co. Meath, Derek was born to a Protestant mother and a Catholic father who did not marry and could not agree on the religious faith of their child. Either his mother, apparently in her twenties, or her family or friends, placed the child in a Church of Ireland home from where he was subsequently fostered - there was no question of legal adoption in 1940s Ireland. His foster parents, no doubt well meaning and having church connections, can only be described as extremely poor and burdened by family problems. Until he emigrated to England in his early twenties Derek was beset by unremitting poverty and undeserved hardship. Judging by the noble appearance of himself and his wife Carol which is reflected in their four five daughters - and no doubt in their beloved grandchildren and the account, well told in this book - Derek's life is one of very creditable achievement. His mother, whom he eventually identified and met, hugely disappointed him. his father was already dead. Who should compensate him for what happened is a question which continues to trouble him. Not an easily forgotten book." 2. "Every Dark Hour - A History of Kilmainham Jail," by Niamh O'SULLIVAN, Liberties Press, ISBN 978-1-905483-21-1, p/b. "The front of this cold, ugly (Dublin building is dominated by a large stone doorway over which the gallows stood, in frequent use in the squalid class and caste dominated temper of the times of its use as a jail (gaol). Five chained dragons interlock their scaly bodies, stonily snaring over the passing population. One learns that they represent the five serious felonies - murder, rape, theft, treason and piracy. One marvels at the mind of the stone carver who wrought them ... the mind of the administrator who requested them. The walls of Kilmainham cannot talk but there are whispers ... This book, however, is a labour of love. The author deals not only with the political prisoners, some of them the most important people of their day in terms of our political history - but also with the ten-year-old children imprisoned for stealing food, the teenagers hanged for burglary, the 93-year-old sentenced to seven days for vagrancy. The leaders of the 1916 Rebellion were executed in the grim yard. In all, between 1796-1924 over 100,000 souls were incarcerated in the place. Visit when you can - if only for the pleasure of leaving those evil walls behind you."