It is 1742 and the celebrated composer Georg Handel is in Dublin for the first performance of Messiah. Once the most successful composer of opera in London - fted by aristocracy and royalty alike - Handel is now penniless, recovering from illness, and out of favor, exiled to Dublin. With him and due to sing in his Messiah is the celebrated young actress, Susannah Cibber, the subject of scandal and public disgrace, on the run from an abusive husband. In this exciting historical novel, Walshe recounts Handel's time in Dublin, his sometimes shady role as emissary and spy for the Elector of Hanover (who in 1714 would become George I of Great Britain and Ireland) and his doomed first love affair.
