Off the Shelf: Fanatic Heart

The genre is Historical Fiction. The subject is John Mitchel. The author is Thomas Keneally, the bestselling author of Schindler’s Ark.  As he did in Schindler’s Ark (made into a movie called Schindler’s List), the Booker Prize winning author weaves a sweeping tale around historic fact.  But this article is more than just a review of Fanatic Heart, it also include a review of an article in Irish Historical Studies Vol. XXXVIII No. 15 2012 titled, “John Mitchel and his biographer.”

John Mitchel (3 November 1815 – 20 March 1875) was an Irish nationalist writer and journalist, chiefly renowned for his indictment of British policy in Ireland during the years of the Great Famine. Between Daniel O’Connell and Charles Stewart Parnell, in the pantheon of 19^th century Irish patriots, Mitchel, in his day, was a highly influential figure.  Were it not for his pro-slavery views, which tarnished his reputation, he would be better known in the U.S. and arguably, more respected. 

In Fanatic Heart, Keneally’s approach is fictional, although, as in his Booker Prize winning Schindler’s Ark, he adheres strictly to the known facts. He chronicles Mitchel’s life in three distinct parts: his youth, marriage and freedom struggle in Ireland; his conviction on the specious charge of “treason felony” and his transportation across the world; and his eventual escape and residence in the U.S. “The biographical literature on Mitchel has veered between the hagiographic and the critical before settling ultimately into an apparent historical graphic indifference.”