The Confessions of Harry Lorrequer — Volume 3

The third volume finds our rakehell hero in familiar territory: stuck between a marching order and a lady's fancy. Harry Lorrequer, that immortal Irish soldier whose talent for trouble is matched only by his gift for witty observation, receives his detachment orders while navigating the usual complications of heart and hierarchy. The satirical eye that made Lever famous roves across the officer's mess and the magistrate's drawing room alike, skewering pretension with a blade always sharpened by humor. What distinguishes Lever from his contemporaries is his ear for dialogue and his refusal to moralize. Lorrequer is no hero in the Byronic mold - he's something more dangerous: a man who sees through everyone, including himself. The political unrest and social upheaval of 1830s Ireland provide merely the backdrop for what matters most - the endless comic consequences of one man's refusal to take anything seriously, least of all himself. For readers who like their comedy sharp, their narrators unreliable, and their Ireland wild.