Norah to promote book at Canavan’s bar

Canavan’s Railway Bar, Poyntzpass is set to host a book promotion for local author Norah Humphries and her first book No Greater Love, on Friday October 3 at 7.30pm.
Norah HumphriesNorah Humphries
Norah Humphries

Norah who was born and grew up in Banbridge, launched the fictional work at the Lisburn Civic Centre earlier this year at the age of 79.

“There has been a lot of interest in my book since its launch and it’s been very well received,” said Norah.

The author, whose mother’s name was McClelland and a decendant of the owners of Belmont House, Banbridge, is delighted to be holding the promotion at Canavan’s Railway Bar.

“I was invited to hold the promotion there because when my book was published I gave a copy to them as a gift because there are parts of it that relate to Poyntzpass over the years.

“My father was born in Poyntzpass and later became station master there. The book is based loosely on his life as a stationmaster and how I imagined it might have been for him.

“It’s about a young boy, Rob Hampton, who meets the love of his life - but of course it’s not without alot of trauma and tragedy in between.

“It covers the second world war and the Troubles and spans over 60 years from 1918 to the early 70’s.”

Norah’s varied life experiences such as living through the Blitz and nursing during the Troubles have helped to weave the colourful backdrop of her novel as she follows young Rob from the age of nine through 60 years of violence, death and incredible human courage during the terrors of World War Two and the Northern Ireland conflict.

Norah attributes an active imagination to the success of her novel.

“I always had a good imagination and I think it’s got sharper as I’ve got older. I loved writing at school and would always like to have had a book published.”

It was granddaughter Sasha Byrnes-Frazer who helped Norah stay disciplined in her writing.

“Sasha had agreed to type up my work at weekends so I handwrote two chapters each week because I wanted to have them ready for her,” said Norah. “It was a great incentive and I think that’s how I managed to get my book written.”

Since the launch of her novel Norah has been busy working on a sequel.

“My second book The House on Waring Street is currently at the proof reading stage and I’m hoping it may be published about Christmas”.

No Greater Love is available from Waterstones, WH Smith and Amazon.co.uk.

Related topics: