Rating: 
Summary: This book will haunt you
Review: This is perhaps the most inspirational book I've read so far this year. It makes me real glad that I am not Gracelin O'Malley ~~ having to see my family and friends starve to a slow death in the great famines of Ireland. I look at my rosy-cheeked chubby babies and thank the fate that I was born in this century. This book haunts you and will transport you back into time. A time of love and death, slavery and drudgery, of dreams and lost hope. And Gracelin O'Malley is a wonderful hero. Ann Moore did an extensive research on this book ~~ looking through letters and journals to get the Irish voice from that era. She has written of despair and fear so well, that you can picture the characters vividly in Ireland. You can picture the huts and cottages, the men singing and the dancing ~~ the fear in the tenants' eyes once they realize they can't pay rent on thier land. When Gracelin's husband, the squire, beat her, you feel as if he was beating on all the Irish. You sense the deep hatred the Irish feel for the English. Ann Moore has revived a period of history that I know very little of. She has also sparked an interest to know more too. If you're looking at a novel that speaks of love and honor, loyalty, dreams and despair, the fight between two countries, the courage to go on despite all the death and disease ~~ if you're looking for a heroine like Gracelin who did not let anything stop her from living life ~~ this book is it. You will not be disappointed. Also, this is one of the most inspirational books you'll ever read. Don't fear, Moore didn't throw the biblical verses at you every time you turn a page ~~ no, she picked out verses that inspire Gracelin and her family to continue on despite the strife in their lives. You sense the strong faith in God throughout this book ~~ and the writing is very lyrical ~~ almost as gentle as the lilt in Irish voices. This is one of the best books I've read in ages ~~ and it is definitely one that I will want to keep. 3-11-03
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