Rating: 
Summary: The saga continues...
Review: Gracelin O'Malley flees Ireland escaping starvation and the law ,and leaves behind her baby son and Father. Having read the first of this 2 part tale (so far, its obvious # 3 will be coming) of Gracelin O'Malley I find I rated Ann Moore's first effort a little higher. Although Leaving Ireland is a good book and I would surely recommend it,I found it predictable, especially towards the end. It was wrapped up in the last 3 chapters with an amateurs touch and for me that took away from the whole story.
Rating: 
Summary: Ann Moore....More please!
Review: I am waiting anxiously for the SEQUEL to Leaving Ireland! There has to be one! Is it coming? Fantastic two books, Gracelin O'Malley & Leaving Ireland! A must read....
Rating:
Summary: Ann Moore....More please!
Review: I am waiting anxiously for the SEQUEL to Leaving Ireland! There has to be one! Is it coming? Fantastic two books, Gracelin O'Malley & Leaving Ireland! A must read....
Rating:
Summary: Awesome saga!
Review: I have read Gracelin O'Malley and just fell in love with Moore's book ~~ and this book is just as good if not better than her first novel. This time, Gracelin manages to escape Ireland during the famine and the fever was raging through the countryside when Julia Martin takes Gracelin to Liverpool to take her to the ship that will take her to America to join Sean, her brother. This is just the beginning of the stories of Barbara, Morgan's sister who turned nun, of Julia who is taking care of Gracelin's son, of Liam Kelley who lost his mother and sister on the ship crossing, of Sean, Gracelin's brother ~~ and so forth. Gracelin, now known as Grace, is more mature in this novel and more responsible but not any less gracious or loving. She's truly an inspiration for all strong women who have to survive hardships!After finishing this book ~~ I cannot wait for the third one to come out! This author will probably be my bookclub's favorite author so far ~~ which is thrilling because Moore writes beautifully and wonderfully about Ireland and the Irish. This is highly recommended reading ~~ if you like historical fiction, you will love this. If you like reading about the Irish, this book is for you. It's beautifully written ~~ poetical in some places and the story is enthralling where it takes you on journeys you've never dreamed of. This book is also full of hope and dreams ~~ more than Gracelin O'Malley was. It's also a keeper. 4-14-04
Rating:
Summary: The story continues
Review: I started reading this book immediately after finishing 'Gracelin O'Malley'.
This book picks up right where the last one ended, with Gracelin setting off on a month-long ship ride to America. Again Gracelin perseveres in the face of tragedy. She is once again the target of murder and yet she bravely stands in the face of danger, clearly willing to sacrifice her own life for those that she loves.
Having lost her husband and leaving her newborn son in Ireland, Gracelin reunites with her brother in America. Things seem to be going well, for a time. Gracelin's past soon catches up and again she is forced to flee her home.
This story ends with Gracelin preparing for another voyage. This time it is across America. I am anxiously waiting to read 'Till Morning Light' and find out what happens.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph of the human spirit!
Review: If you loved Gracelin O'Malley, then Leaving Ireland is a must-read! Fleeing an Ireland full of pain and suffering, tragedy and broken dreams, Grace journeys across the Atlantic to build a new life in America. The plot is action-packed from the start and, in my opinion, much more uplifting overall than the first book. Familiar faces return and new friends and nemesis are made along the way as Grace continues her struggle for survival and her fight for a better life in a new world. Through it all, Grace perseveres with courage, dignity, unwavering faith, an indomitable spirit, and a heart of gold (thank you Ann Moore for creating such an inspirational character!). Although Leaving Ireland is a wonderful novel in itself, I recommend reading Gracelin O'Malley first. You'll find your enjoyment of the story even greater having met the characters before. Grace seems to be on the road to happiness and I eagerly await the third installment of her story!
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining, but not as beautifully written as 1st novel.
Review: In Leaving Ireland, Grace travels on a ship bound for America with her toddler daughter in hopes of a better life with her brother Sean in New York. Sadly, she has left behind her father and infant son who surely would not survive the terrible journey. Grace and her daughter live through all of the horrors of an ocean crossing in the 1840's: cramped quarters, hunger, disease, death and cruelty from the first class passengers and the crew. However, the Captain is a decent man and when he successfully brings his ship to port, Grace and her daughter are still alive. They are welcomed into a safe, clean home above a pub owned and operated by kind people who provide employment, food and lodging. Thus Grace avoids the tenements, lack of employment opportunities and much of the extreme prejudice that most Irish immigrants face in their shared position with the blacks at the bottom of the class structure. The story suffers from too many subplots that distract from the story of Grace. The Irish continue to struggle with famine and poverty in their homeland and we witness this through Grace's sister-in-law Barbara who is a nun back home. Another part of the story is about Judith, a friend of Grace's former husband who takes care of Grace's son and becomes attached to him. Sean becomes involved with the Mormon religion and looks more to the West and the future than back toward Ireland. And there is the black slave Lily that Grace befriends late in the book. Lily left behind 2 children and a husband in the South and hopes to have them smuggled north to freedom. Whenever the story switched to another character, I wanted to get back to Grace. The tragedies that befell Grace and the Irish in the first novel made their strength, courage and faith heartbreakingly believable because it was a nationwide occurrence. The events in this story seemed plausible, but the villains seemed too orchestrated. I did enjoy this book and will read another about Grace. But it just didn't possess the same lyrical quality and beautiful writing as Gracelin O'Malley.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph of the human spirit!
Review: In the 1840s, Gracelin O'Malley realizes she must flee her homeland Ireland after killing a Brit. With her husband dead, Gracelin accompanied by her daughter sails for New York and her brother Sean with her only regret that she is forced to leave her infant son behind. The oceanic voyage is a nightmare with many of her fellow passengers dying from the subhuman conditions. American Captain Reinders helps Gracelin survive the ordeal, but she still incurs the ire of several individuals who are now enemies. The ship's steward loathes the Irish, seeing her as a pushy representative of an inferior race. Dr. Draper detests her for demanding he care for the ailing travelers. Both declare that they will destroy Gracelin once she disembarks from the ship and the safety of the captain. In New York, she moves in with Sean, but is also stalked by the angry steward. Gracelin also befriends a runaway slave Lily. Struggling to survive while fighting injustice, Gracelin finds she is once again at the crossroads with her choices being accompanying her brother west or remaining with her Captain Reinders LEAVING IRELAND is a deep action-packed historical novel that leaves the audience with a full five senses feeling for the 1840s, indirectly in Ireland and directly in Liverpool, the immigrant ocean voyage, and New York. The story line is a two-sided sword as the tale teems with so much action, it feels at times to be overburdened with subplots at the cost of the key character development. Readers who prefer an action packed look at a bygone era will want to read Ann Moore's tale that leaves threads for a sequel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: deep action-packed historical novel
Review: In the 1840s, Gracelin O'Malley realizes she must flee her homeland Ireland after killing a Brit. With her husband dead, Gracelin accompanied by her daughter sails for New York and her brother Sean with her only regret that she is forced to leave her infant son behind. The oceanic voyage is a nightmare with many of her fellow passengers dying from the subhuman conditions. American Captain Reinders helps Gracelin survive the ordeal, but she still incurs the ire of several individuals who are now enemies. The ship's steward loathes the Irish, seeing her as a pushy representative of an inferior race. Dr. Draper detests her for demanding he care for the ailing travelers. Both declare that they will destroy Gracelin once she disembarks from the ship and the safety of the captain. In New York, she moves in with Sean, but is also stalked by the angry steward. Gracelin also befriends a runaway slave Lily. Struggling to survive while fighting injustice, Gracelin finds she is once again at the crossroads with her choices being accompanying her brother west or remaining with her Captain Reinders LEAVING IRELAND is a deep action-packed historical novel that leaves the audience with a full five senses feeling for the 1840s, indirectly in Ireland and directly in Liverpool, the immigrant ocean voyage, and New York. The story line is a two-sided sword as the tale teems with so much action, it feels at times to be overburdened with subplots at the cost of the key character development. Readers who prefer an action packed look at a bygone era will want to read Ann Moore's tale that leaves threads for a sequel. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A let down after Gracelin
Review: Leaving Ireland is the continuing story of Gracelin O'Malley which started in the book with the same title. In Leaving Ireland, Gracelin is a fugitive from the law after being accused of murder. To save herself, she must run away to America to be with her brother Sean. In order to make this sailing she has to temporarily leave behind her father and her new born son but takes along her daughter. They suffer many weeks of sickness and death to reach America but Gracelin does survive. She meets up with her brother and begins her new life but cant stop being haunted by the memory of what and who she left behind.
I thought that Leaving Ireland was just an OK story. It took about half the book just to get Gracelin across to America. Once she arrived, it seemed as though the story had no real purpose and was then I was rushed to reach the end.
I am however looking forward to the third and final book due out very soon, til Morning Light. I am hoping for the magic of the tale that I enjoyed in the first book.
| 
