Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Story, Memorable and Emotional
Review: "My Dream of You" is one of those rare unforgettable books that keeps you thinking about the story well after you are done reading it. It is an honest exploration of love, passion, and aging and leaves the reader with a deep message that comes both from the current time and times long gone. It is the perfect book for women reaching "a certain age" who want to find meaning in the passage of time, truth, and what the future could now hold.
Rating: 
Summary: could be any woman's dream
Review: Nuala O'Faolain delicately narrates one woman's journey through her own personal transition in the midst of answering questions about an unsolved trial set in Ireland's past. There comes a time where every beautiful and worthy woman must face her dissatisfaction with herself and her life and "turn her eyes inward". This is what the author does with the main character, Kathleen- a mid-life irish-born beauty with a classic troubled childhood. Her lack of love in her young life leads Kathy through an endless cycle of self-destructive choices in various sexual relations. O'Faolain creates a sympathetic character who makes us wince one moment, as she continually reflects on poorly judged sexual excapades, and the next moment has our heart beating wildly with passion and romanticism. The trial that Kathy has taken upon herself to unearth and and piece together only serves as a tool to help Kathy peel away the several layers of her own self. Gently written with lots of genuine characters, I feel this novel is a good read for any woman, young or old, who ever felt less than what she's really worth: in love, in family, and in life.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Sensitive
Review: This book is one of the most beautifully written that I have read since reading "Well of Loneliness" when I was in junior high. The incredible sense of honesty that was achieved by delving into the deepness of her soul left me stunned and captivated. She is truly gifted in her portrayal of the emotional wreckage of her parent's marriage and how it affected her life and the life of her siblings. This book has to be read by every woman who has ever sought real love and was not able to find it. I wouldn't recommend it as a good read for men because I don't think they would like it. It is a woman's book and the best of the best as far as I know.
Rating:
Summary: Engaging to say the least...
Review: There is something to be said for a book that really grabs you and keeps you there throughout. Nuala O'Faolaon may not be the Emerald Isle's grandson, but she writes a good book. The simple fact that you can't put it down is testimony to this.
Rating: 
Summary: A dreadful book that I couldn't put down
Review: When I first began reading this book, I was really drawn in. I thought some of the thoughts expressed were really profound and, being an American, I found the British/Irish conflict angle to be very interesting. I also love historical stories about how people felt and acted in a different age. But then I began to realize that this woman hops into bed with a man, any man who comes along, all in the space of about 2 hours or so. I am no prude, but I found this rather extreme (and I'm 15 years younger than this character). I also thought she didn't use very effective problem solving skills and ends up making a lot of her own problems, which makes for frustrating reading. I did finish the book, mainly because I wanted to find out how the historical aspect came out, but I can't recommend it to anyone else.
Rating: 
Summary: There are too many good books to waste your time on this one
Review: The only interesting thing about this book is the information about the famine. If that is of interest to you, I would suggest reading about it elsewhere. This book is too much muck to slog through to find few bits of historical information. The main character has no redeeming qualities and the self pity is enough to put you over the edge. I don't have a clue why this book was written or published. If you do give it a try and keep thinking it will get better, give up on it, it only gets worse.
Rating:
Summary: A bottle of Prozac please!!!!!
Review: I'm afraid that I have to agree with the minority here - I can't understand what everyone else is raving about. I just wanted to scream, "Hey, Kathleen, get a good shrink, a prescription for a huge bottle of Prozac and get a life!" What a depressed and self-absorbed character. It took the author over 500 pages to tell a story that lasted a little over one week in her pathetic, melancholy life. The only parts of interest were the main character's attempts at writing a love story about some long ago Irish residents. Unfortunately, she became so absorbed in their fictional lives when she should have been dealing with repairing her own sad life (which she made an attempt at in the last twenty pages or so). Ultimately, their story, too, was filled with sadness. The author's frequent flashbacks and references to memories left me confused at times (she jumped all over a two hundred year period) and the lacking of quotation marks made the flow of conversation difficult to follow at times.
I did manage to finish the book with the hope of learning more of the great potato famine (which I did to some extent), but it will not become a part of my personal library. Hey Kathleen, get some Prozac!
Rating:
Summary: Introspection and Passion
Review: I bought it for my wife, but it's not just a woman's book. Nuala O'Faolain weaves together the past and present of Kathleen de Burca (herself) with an old marital scandal of an English landlord and his wife from mid-19th century Ireland. In so doing, she connects the reader with his/her own personal and cultural pain and life struggles, causing one to make personal evaluations of life as it is. O'Faolain has a unique ability to weave the story together in a fashion that draws you in. You feel like you know her personally; you feel like you are there. I think that's because she connects us with the pleasures and disappointments and crises we all know and experience in life. It isn't necessary, but one gains additional understanding of Kathleen de Burca by reading O'Faolain's "Are You Somebody" before reading "My Dream of You." It's not just a woman's book. It's a passionate, soul-searching read. I recommend it.
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Summary: Bridget Jones at 50? Fresh, amusing and poignant
Review: bravo to O'Faolain for creating a "middle-aged" woman (main character is turning 50) who's neither sexless, a spinster in a little hat, nor in any other way made cute and cuddly. I was fascinated by the main character's journey-- she goes back to Ireland, having lived in England for a long time and worked as a travel writer, after a dear friend dies. There she tries to discover the mystery behind an old aristocratic scandal, and begins a novel as part of the process, and begins an affair with a married man. Along the way we see glimpses into her full but ultimately empty love-life, and cheer her on as she makes, ultimately, a difficult and painful decision. O'Faolain's prose is beautiful without being self-conscious. She writes of a cat having touched the main character "with one plush paw" and I've never forgotten it. The longing and the vividness behind that description have stayed with me. Similarly an observation about the kinds of kisses that don't leave you pretty struck me hard. Wonderful dialogue and vivid characters, too. A surprisingly quick read for a thick book. An Irish friend read it on my recommendation and enjoyed it but thought at times it seemed a little Bridget Jones-like. It is, in a way-- Bridget Jones at 50, with a more somber and serious outlook than Bridge ever had. When I finished this book, I felt I had been to Ireland and had lived some of her life. One of the best reads of 2002, for me.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in awhile
Review: I did not expect to find "My Dream of You" to be such a critical read for women of any age and any culture! The author is able to mix past and present into a suspenseful and meaningful account of what it means to be Irish, what it means to be a woman and what it means to approach middle-age. I enjoyed her use of flashbacks to weave together the story of her main character and the story of two "star-crossed" lovers during the Famine. Above all, "My Dream of You" is an examination of passion in many different lights. What drives someone from their homeland? What pushes us to choose a career over family? What draws two people together as powerfully as it can tear them apart? Can passion last? What personal sacrifices are we willing to accept in order to sustain it? Do not be mistaken - this is not a novel just for middle-aged women! As someone who just turned 30, I found a lot of Nuala's insights to be just as relevant in my life as hers. I also don't believe it is solely a woman's novel. When I shared some excerpts with my Irish boyfriend, he found it to be a telling account of Irish life, past and present, male and female.
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