Rating: 
Summary: Big Disappointment
Review: This book was a huge disappointment. The book is told in the first person by "Kathleen". Kathleen does nothing but complain, rethink her life over the last fifty years, and whine about Ireland. You read the whole book thinking that at the end she is going to come to a huge realization about herself, and it never happens. The second story in the story also has the same type ending. By the end of the book you just want to tell this woman to get a life, but then again that is what she is lamenting about. I wish I could get back the several hours I spent reading it!
Rating: 
Summary: Engaging and thought-provoking
Review: I picked up this book on a recent trip to Ireland, mostly to occupy my time while waiting for buses -- but instead, once I started reading it, I could hardly put it down. I'd already read her nonfiction "Are You Somebody," and some of the same themes and characters reappear here, but she's woven them so effectively into the story that they don't seem intrusive. I found the narrator inherently interesting because I'm a woman of about the same age who grew up in a partly-Irish Catholic family. I feel that the main character is an accurate embodiment of the mind-set inculcated into many women of our generation and background: a woman's role in life is to love and be loved, and to serve others selflessly; and if your life isn't everything you want it to be when you reach middle age, it's ALL YOUR FAULT for not living up to the womanly ideal. Intense self-examination is part of the process of dealing with this ("Where did I go wrong?"); denial is part of it too, and the main character's ruthless analysis of her illusions and self-destructive behavior patterns was, I felt, admirably done. The 18th-century tragic romance woven into the story is touching in its own right, but it also reflects (in melodramatic exaggeration) the narrator's thought processes and emotional states. What I found most engaging about the book was the characters: the author has a facility for depicting memorable personalities, and everyone -- from the narrator's family and friends, to the supporting characters in the imbedded story -- was vividly described, both physically and mentally. I didn't feel that the ending was "inconclusive": the narrator has come to a better understanding of her own behavior, rejected yet another emotional "dead end," and engaged in a selfless act of friendship that has the potential to turn into something more, so she's definitely matured in the course of the story. All in all, I found the book highly satisfying, and I look forward to more fiction from O Faolain.
Rating: 
Summary: A great Irish read
Review: This book is a moving account of life in Ireland that covers the troubled consequences of the tragedies of Irish history as visited on 3 separate generations.
Kathleen or Caitlin as she is called in Ireland is a real life career woman who faces coming of age at 40+ and who deals with those challenges while exploring their roots in her youth in Ireland. Caitlin deals with loss, love and an uncertain future while pursuing a mystery from 150 years ago that is in itself a good story (and based on actual events). I learned much about Irish history which has given me a perspective of the Anglo-Irish conflict and its enduring legacy.
O'Faolain has woven a compelling story on a multitude of levels. Give it a try... you won't be disappointed!
Rating: 
Summary: 528 pages of navel-gazing
Review: Warning: nothing much happens in this book. It's basically about a 49-year-old woman's mid-life crisis. There's no real plot to speak of -- heroine Kathleen de Burca spends hundreds of pages reflecting on her life and bemoaning her missed chances. Frankly, it was never clear to me why she felt she'd had such a bad life. She had a lifestyle most people would kill for, traveling the world and having all sorts of passionate experiences and affairs. Instead of being grateful for her opportunities, however, she's feeling sorry for herself and thinking herself into a funk. Finally, in the last 50 pages or so, you learn about the thing that led to her lifelong estrangement from her family and from Ireland. In my opinion, this was a cheap literary device by the author to string you along for the length of the book. It's the kind of information that could have been revealed much earlier in the writing, but then the author wouldn't have had much to entice you to keep reading. Then, in the last few pages, Kathleen is enlightened by some trite insights we've heard a million times before: forgive your parents, claim your life, be open to the present moment. Hello, Oprah! Basically, once the author quits dwelling on herself and starts focusing on the outer world and on appreciating other people, she starts feeling better about her life. Duh!The way the book is structured also is frustrating. There are at least two "stories" in this book -- Kathleen's mid-life crisis and the historical novel Kathleen is writing about a 19th-century divorce case. The author is constantly switching between the two tales, sometimes within the same paragraph. Just when you get caught up in, say, the historical novel about the divorce case, the author starts rambling about some aspect of Kathleen's past or the weather in Ireland. Sad to say, Kathleen's life is not nearly as interesting as the historical novel she's working on, so each time the author yanked me back to Kathleen, I found myself getting increasingly irritated. On the plus side, some of the the writing is lovely -- I enjoyed some passages immensely and found some of the imagery quite beautiful. It's in the plot -- or lack thereof -- that this book falls down. If you're a self-absorbed middle-aged person, this book might resonate with you. If, however, you accept that aging is inevitable and that it's your responsibility alone to create meaning in your life, you'll quickly grow weary of Kathleen de Burca and her whining.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to listen to
Review: MY DREAM OF YOU
AUTHOR: Nuala O'Faolain
PUBLISHER: Simon & Schuster
REVIEWED BY: Barbara Rhoades BOOK REVIEW: If you have a good ear for accents, then there will be no problem with listening to this book. Unfortunately, Dearbhla Molloy, the reader of My Dream Of You, is so good at English and Irish accents that it is extremely hard to hear the words if you are not able to understand these accents to begin with. In fact, she was so good that after listening to one side of the tape, I gave up. The other draw back to this story was that the first half of the tape was spent in such detailed background information that it did not hold my attention. At this point, between not being able to understand what was being read and the drudgery of the detailed background, I lost interest in reading any more. The story, as outlined on the back cover, seemed like it would be a good one. It was about an affair between an Irish servant and the wife of an English landlord. If you can get around the accents and the laborious details in the beginning, this may be a good book.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, real, inspiring
Review: I actually bought this book because of the cover, it's really beautiful. And then I discovered that the writing was as well. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was over a hundred pages into it, I became totally intrigued. First of all, I love the way the author descibes Ireland, how beautiful it is, how scenic. And I love the details about the Famine, and how the author weaves past and present together in the text. This story is about a woman who finally decides to confront her past, and who opens herself up after staying closed off to people and to herself for so long. It's an engaging and vibrant story, the characters are real and alive, and the setting (London and then Ireland) is richly described. I highly recommend this book, not only is it a beautiful story, but it also has a lot of history in it, so that you can learn about the Famine and Ireland as well, well at the same time get deep into the heart of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Drawn to Ireland
Review: For some insane reason I am drawn to stories that take place in Ireland and surrounding areas. Our main character is still looking for herself, but it's not until her dear friend ,Jimmy, dies that she is forced to return to her homeland and forced to return to herself. Geez...maybe it's because I am in my mid-forties that I am able to relate to some of Kathleen's, well, I know it isn't a word, but Kathleen's pure, unabashed "lostness"!! She really has nobody but herself and she knows it. Her return to her home, her desire to see her actual town, her relationship with her dear brother and her young dead brother, well, she's on a mission. What a wonderful....hated to see it end book.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your money - use your library card instead!
Review: I had a heck of a time getting into this book - about 150 pages I forced myself to read before I got to the point where I actually wanted to continue to read. Maybe it is because I am only 21 and have a difficulty relating to the 50 year old main character. Maybe I don't agree with her values. I have to admit the only thing that's keeping me reading is the silly romance. This one is not going to be a classic. Not a book I'm going to read again. Not a book I recommend purchasing. Go check it out at the library and save yourself the money.
Rating:
Summary: My Dream of You
Review: This was a wonderful book. It's not a quick read; some of the passages tend to drag a bit. However, it is quite reflective and thought provoking. There were many passages I would have to ponder for a bit before I could return to the book -- some which made me feel like I needed a nap afterwards to recover. Kathleen is at the same time lovable and pathetic and annoying. Some of her qualities make her an unlikely heroine, but the reader can't help but wish her the best.
Rating:
Summary: Hell is a Hard Place to Leave When You Know Your Way Around.
Review: I was eager to read this first novel by the fiercely honest and compassionate author of Are You Somebody? I should warn you that I am drawn to stories about messy human beings who, even in their middle years, have not settled and are still hanging in there and hoping for wisdom and happiness, however that translates to the individual. O'Faolain provides us with a rich cast of characters, many of whom have haunted me long after reading the novel. The author's forte is writing candidly about family relationships, and the De Burca family in My Dream of You is particularly well imagined. O'Faolain's heroine, Kathleen de Burca, is introduced as a woman who has finally realized that she must make some significant changes in her life. She is mourning the sudden death of her beloved colleague and friend, Jimmy. This great loss awakens her to the reality that she is also grieving the disconnection she feels with her surviving family members. And Kathleen is mourning her middle aging and the dearth of passion in her life. She tells us early on, "I believed in passion the way other people believed in God:everything fell into place around it." Throughout this novel Kathleen's casual acceptance of sex with anyone who offers is therefore believable, but not always easy to read about. As demeaning as many of the experiences seem in the cold light of words, Kathleen is always ahead of the reader in her hard and often humorous self judgement. It isn't the sex that interests her. It is the hope for Passion. She believes that her life in London has become a dead end and decides to leave a very good job as a travel writer to strike out on her own as a writer of an historical novel based on the Talbot Judgement requiring her to return to Ireland. The return to Ireland and Kathleen's research into the Talbot Judgement and the history of the Ballygall area during the Famine initially lead her to write a passionate and rather torrid imaginary account of the Talbot affair, the novel within this novel. Ireland also brings Kathleen home in the best sense of the expression. Growing up, the child of an angry father and a weak, incapacitated mother caused her to wonder if the Famine, "something that had happened more than a hundred years ago, and that was almost forgotten, could have been so terrible that it knocked all the happiness out of people." The engaging cast of characters she encounters while researching the Talbots and the Famine, all help Kathleen to slowly see herself reflected in a more hopeful light. Kathleen De Burca finds the beginnings of an answer to the happiness question. She already knows that hell is a hard place to leave when you know your way around. She discovers that to be especially true concerning the hell of shame and self loathing. It is human nature to attach oneself to an idea and assume that as an identity . Kathleen is a heroine who figures that out and takes a leap, and though the ending is left open, one hopes she has found the self respect that is needed to live wisely and to finally become a person that she can be proud of. I found this book entertaining and agreeably thought provoking. Nuala O'Faolain explores important questions of personal responsibility and the importance of one's history both literally and in the univeral sense. I am in awe of O'Faolain's use of words to paint vivid settings. Kathleen De Burca's travels, her basement flat, the TravelWrite Office, Ballygall, all become real places through O'Faolain's descriptions. You don't just visualize these places. O'Faolain gives you the smell, the sound, and the feel of place. She honors Ireland both past and present with a sensitive reflection of the Famine and of the survivors. Yet this story is universal. Suffering is an unfortunate fact of life. This ambitious tale of a woman's search for happiness reminds us that we must not attach ourselves to suffering. As Kathleen De Burca discovers, forgiveness is necessary to move forward and "to see ourselves as precious. Just for having existed!"
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