A Star Called Henry marks a new chapter in Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle's writing. On a broad canvas that takes us from the turn of the century, he paints a passionate love story that is also a vivid political saga and a subversive look behind the legends of Irish republicanism. Its protagonist is Henry Smart, son of a one-legged whorehouse bouncer and settler of scores. As soon as he can walk, Henry becomes a prince of the streets, robbing, begging and charming his way. At fourteen, he's a soldier in the Irish Citizen Army, and a year later he's ready to die for Ireland again as a rebel killer. Armed with his father's wooden leg, Henry becomes a republican legend, one of Michael Collins' boys, a cop killer, an assassin on a stolen bike, a lover.