The acceptance of identity and the power of family is hilariously chronicled in The Once and Future Celt, Bill Watkins’s conclusion to his trilogy of memoirs. The tale begins when the 21-year-old narrator finds himself in the care of a band of Gypsies. As he begins to fall for one of the camp members, he learns that the Gypsies and the Celts are not so different as he experiences the prejudices they suffer in Britain.
After returning to his parents’ home in Birmingham, England and dealing with his proud mother and secretive father, Bill departs to follow the call of the Celt, the hireath – really just an excuse to pursue a girl. As he explores and meets a variety of characters, he comes full-circle in his quest for identity and self-actualization as the Celtic revival of the twentieth-century begins to take hold.
Following the acclaimed A Celtic Childhood and Scotland Is Not for the Squeamish, The Once and Future Celt is "a delightful and often touching book, full of sly rebellion." (Frank Delaney, author of Tipperary and Ireland.) Bill Watkins will be appearing at Magers & Quinn booksellers on Tuesday, June 17 at 7 p.m. for a book reading and signing.
The Once and Future Celt is available now from Scarletta Press. For more information, visit www.scarlettapress.com. Magers & Quinn booksellers is located at 3038 Hennepin Avenue South in Minneapolis.
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