The Grave (novel)

The Grave (novel)

The Grave is a novel by author James Heneghan.

The setting moves between 1970s Liverpool and 1840s Ireland: a young boy named Thomas Mullen is abandoned in a Liverpool toy store. When he is found, he's put in the foster care system, or Social Services, the "SS," which Thomas compares to the Nazi SS. He moves from home to home.

One day, Thomas discovers a mass grave at a construction site near his school. He enters the site, and is taken back to 1847 Ireland at the height of the Potato Famine. The Monaghan family, who take him in, consists of Tully, Hannah, Brendan, Maggie, and Thaddius Monaghan. Thomas soon discovers that he would rather stay with the Monaghan family than go back to his alternate life. He does not know what to do about this, especially because of his foster "friend", Brian, who is slow and depends on Thomas for protection and support in everything.