Hell Bent

About the Book

The setting for Hell Bent is the repressed, Catholic Church dominated, society of mid-twentieth century Ireland. The novel's central character, Alan Logan, born in 1934, spends his youth in sexual ignorance, and in the guilt and fear of the Church's obsession with hell-fire and eternal damnation.

State backed censorship of the Church's insistence on 'protecting' society from the 'evil' effects of foreign influences is universally enforced until the unstoppable arrival of international radio. Through this medium, especially the broadcasts from Germany of the American Forces Network, Alan discovers the exuberant and life-affirming freedom of jazz music. This discovery triggers in him a passion to rid Ireland of its guilt-ridden fears and repression, and especially to make the Catholic Church accountable for the anguish and suffering it is inflicting, particularly on the minds of impressionable children, through its relentless and unprovable depictions of the horrific fate awaiting those who refuse to obey its commands.

In the course of his quest he finds heartbreak and love, and ultimately it enables him to take charge of that most precious of all human possessions, his own mind.

About the Author

Aiden Traynor was born in Dublin in 1939. He has a Master's in English Literature, and has taught a course for adults on 'Enjoying English' for the VEC in Ireland. He lives in Malahide, North County Dublin, and has four adult children. This is his first novel.