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Rating: 
Summary: Stay Away......From Chapters Two And Three
Review: This novel is ultimately a disappointment because it starts off with such potential. Indeed, if Ms. Urquhart had simply made a novella out of the first chapter and entitled it A Fish On A Pool, it would be a first rate artistic achievement. Instead, she drones on in two subsequent chapters in a lyricism that eventually fails through repetition, a plot that grates through being, well, the same blasted plot repeated three times and a theme that becomes not a little over the top in its literary feminism.
This review is not the place to go into all of Ms. Urquhart's gifts and how she has wasted them after the first, astounding chapter. She has a lyrical gift that owes much to Yeats. -In fact, the words "changed utterly" occur twice in this book-which, if you are a lover of Irish poetry and, ergo, a lover of Yeats, cannot fail to strike a chord. Hint: Read his Easter 1916. There are also passages like these in the first chapter, "Dark morning birds lifted away from the earth she walked on, her words spinning in the sky then flying over the fields to the shore". The first chapter is thematically wild and entrancing and lyrically virtuosic.
But then......who knows? Maybe her publisher demanded a certain number of pages. In any event, she goes on in two flat, pat chapters about the same thing with less magic and more of an axe to grind. She flirts with feminist propaganda near the end. Only the woman can receive the enchanting gift of being "away" it would seem. And men turn out to be destroyers of themselves and/or the land around them, unless, of course, they happen to be American Indian and go by the none too subtle name of "Exodus".
Still, the book is worth it. Just stop after the first chapter while you're still enchanted and before disillusionment has set in, while you're still "away."
Rating: 
Summary: Provoking,lyrical prose that winds through generations
Review: After reading "The Underpainter" by the same author I was urged to read "Away". This book completely engulfed me and carried me away to Ireland; to the lonely, wind swept, rocky beaches, the cold, hungry nights, and into the small, mean cottages. Jane Urquhart weaves a tapestry of language that forms vivid images in the mind of every reader . We are transported onto the coffin ships to make the long voyage to Canada, that most unforgiving of lands. Following the lives of Mary and Brian and their children, as seen through the lense of memory, was my daily gift to myself. I mourned their loss when I finished reading the book, but can still bring them to life as I continue to reflect upon this poetic novel.
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Summary: Garcia Marquez meets Canada
Review: Away is a wonderfully written novel- Urquhart's skill and competence as a writer is unquestionable. but wouldn't call this particular novel one of her best. i must admit, it was a pleasure reading it, from a literary perspective, but the events and decisions made in this story are very peculiar and unlikely. in the novel, a young woman from Rothlin, a fictionary island in Ireland is 'posessed' with the spirit of a young sailor who dies in her arms after being washed ashore from his drowned ship. the events following are odd and created solely by the superstition of the narrow minded islanders, and the girl's own over-active imagination. overall, i thought that the novel was incomprehensible in some parts, and the characters were impossible to relate to.
Rating:
Summary: An intricate weaving
Review: Extending backwards and forwards in time a hundred and forty years, Away, a novel by Canadian writer Jane Urquhart, begins with one of the female characters discovering the shoreline near her Irish home has been changed forever. Stones resembling new potatoes have replaced the sandy beach, a grim joke in this impoverished area. Then "thousands of cabbages nudged one another towards shore," followed by many silver teapots and barrels of whiskey, a semi-conscious young man the final offering. Thus begins this amazing tale, weaving together the lives of four generations of women, Ireland and and Canada, past and present, land and sea. Water becomes a character in itself, each of these women drawn to it like lemmings, lives unfolding near a stream that ebbs and flows with the seasons, a Great Lake, and the Atlantic Ocean. For readers who appreciate lyrical writing, a compelling story, and subtly evoked magic realism, this book is for you
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Summary: A Book to Savor
Review: I discovered this beautiful book whilst on holday in Canada, and became entranced with the world of Celtic/Canadian literature.Jane Urquart's writing transported me into the depths of Irish-Canadian femininity with a powerful sense of tragedy, beauty and imagination. I could not put this book down, and when I finished it I felt as though I had travelled decades and miles beyond the 20th Century world of modern-day London. Her capacity to relate the magnificence of 2 of the most beautiful places on earth is truly impressive, as is her ability to weave together history and mythology. I would recommend this book to any other dreamer who can allow themselves to be transported into the other world.
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Summary: Intense/abnormal love stories
Review: I enjoyed the historical aspect to this book, particularly the description of the potato famine in Ireland. I read up on it a little on the Internet while going through the book and it seems Urquhart describes it accurately. The story, although partially fictitious, of D'arcy Mcgee was also interesting. I thought the obsessive love Eileen had for Aidan was over-emphasized and was dwelled upon for too long. I got the point long before she wrapped up the story. Considering we had already encountered an obsessive love through Mary in the first half of the book, it seemed somewhat redundant to go into that much detail of this obsessive type of love again through Eileen.
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Summary: Wonderful language
Review: In this acclaimed novel by Canadian writer Jane Urquhart, the story is second to the language used. Urquhart writes with such grace and mastery that one is often compelled to re-read large sections just to absorb her words. The story is very compelling, about an Irish family who immigrate from Ulster during the Great Famine. But there have been many other books written on this topic, none of which are remotely as enjoyable to read. It is the unique strength of Urquhart's voice that makes this novel so fine. A novel certainly for any reader interested in Irish and Irish-Canadian heritage, but also very worth reading by any who enjoy good language and style.
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Summary: Reincarnation for the Irish
Review: Interesting book for the most part, but it is hard for me to relate with the continuously poor and unexplainable decisions the members of this family make. It's sad to think that a family has no control over a "family curse" that continues through generations and a troublesome male who is reincarnated for successive women in the family. Excellent writing, though. I wish it had left me with a happier and more hopeful feeling inside.
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