So Many Partings ~ Cathy Cash Spellman

Tags

ireland, new york, North America

(3.5) A “wee” bit of a rags to riches family saga

So Many Partings is the story of Tom Dalton, illegitimate child of the younger son of the manor Drumgillan and Irish peasant Mary Dalton. When Tom comes to New York as a young man fresh out of college and fresh off the boat, he finds friends and obtains work among the other Irishmen at the docks. Eventually Tom is mentored by ruthless businessman Diamond Jim Mulvaney and as he proves his mettle he quickly moves up in the ranks and hopes to one day earn enough to be able to court Diamond Jim’s daughter Dierdra (much to DJ’s consternation).

The rest of the book details early 1900’s New York as Tom’s work in Diamond Jim’s empire involves him with the Tammany gang, dirty politics, and a labor strike at the docks between the Irish and the Italians that leads to tragic consequences for Tom and his new family, and finally culminates in the story of Tom’s beloved granddaughter Megan and the treacherous betrayals by Tom’s two sons.

While I enjoyed this book, at the same time I found something missing. It’s not quite BIG enough in scope to be an “epic novel”, nor is there enough romance to keep me on the edge of the seat waiting for two lovers to finally get together. Additionally, most of the characters were a bit clichéd and unoriginal – the madam with the heart of gold, the big Irish dockworker with the soft side no one knows, the ruthless business man who lets no one in his way (well almost), a few Mafioso types – that as much as I enjoyed the book I felt like I just left the table after a full meal and I’m still needing something more. It’s a good book, not a great one, although it did quite well for this housebound reader on a snowy winter afternoon. Not too light and not too heavy, and definitely no where near as good as the author’s fabulous Paint the Wind. 3.5/5 stars.

 

Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

Tags

historical fiction, ireland

 

“A nation….Can a country of unmarked graves ever be a nation?”.  

Galway Bay begins in 1839 and covers the life of Honora Keeley, first bound for the church, until she by chance meets Michael Kelly as he’s rising from the bay after a swim and it’s love at first site for both. Despite the odds against them, they manage to marry and find a place to live and farm and do as well as can be expected under the British oppression – that is until the potato blight hits. With the British government insensitive to the needs of the starving, many begin to emigrate to America and the Kellys finally decide to go as well and join Michael’s brother Patrick in Chicago.

Once in America Honora and her family first arrive in New Orleans and then make their way to Chicago, able to rise above the bigotry and ignorance against the Irish and build a new life. The family’s story then takes them through the Civil War, the Fenian Rising of 1867, the great fire and Chicago’s World’s Fair (Columbian Exposition).

While it’s not a five star book IMO, I really enjoyed this one, especially the first parts in Ireland – the accounts of the Great Famine were horrendous, as well the ignorance and bigotry of the English government as they sat on their hands and watched so many die such horrible deaths. I also enjoyed their early days in Chicago as they struggled to find employment and keep a roof over their heads. My only complaint is the last 75 or so pages tended to drop off and things got pretty slow as the author wrapped it up. I know that the Irish had large families with lots of kids and grandkids, but finally my head was spinning trying to keep track of them all. Perhaps a family tree for the paperback edition would help readers keep them straight? Lastly, there is a lovely glossary in the back listing many of the Irish expressions used in the book and how to pronounce them. Wish I’d known about it when I started the book. 4/5 stars.

Cashelmara by Susan Howatch

Tags

england, historical fiction, ireland

The match flared in the darkness, his eyes watched me above the single steady flame..

I cannot recall the last time a scene from a book has so thoroughly chilled me to the bone (and there were plenty more besides), but you’ll have to read it for yourself to see what I’m talking about – I’m not telling! Set in Ireland in the latter part of the 19C, Howatch recounts three generations of the wealthy English de Salis family in six separate “books”, each of those being in the first person POV of different characters.

Edward de Salis visits his distant cousins the Marriotts in New York and brings a much younger Marguerite home as his bride. Despite the great difference in their ages, the two are well matched and soon have children of their own to add to Edward’s brood from his first marriage. When Edward’s eldest son Patrick inherits the de Salis lands and fortune, he marries Marguerite’s niece Sarah and upon their return from New York they live in London until their lavish lifestyle and Patrick’s gambling brings it to a screeching halt. Forced to economize, Sarah and Patrick start life fresh at Cashelmara but Edward comes under the influence of childhood friend Derry Stranahan.

Derry’s unnatural hold over Patrick continues to grow and leads to clashes in his marriage and with his Irish tenants until Derry’s fate is sealed during an Irish riot. Eventually Sarah finds her hopes to repair the marriage and run a profitable estate are hindered once again by Patrick’s too close relationship with another man – Hugh McGowan. Sarah soon finds herself an unwilling member of a triangle that for the sake of her children she endures until……well you know I don’t tell all.

Howatch takes the reader on quite ride in this one as Sarah’s desperate situation forces her to make an unwise alliance of her own until she can return to Cashelmara – although that return sets in place another set of circumstances leading to a death by natural causes – or is there something more going on here? If this is sounding a bit like you’ve heard this story before, you’re probably right. Howatch based her characters on the lives of England’s first three Edwards and that’s really half the fun of reading this novel. Can you spot Piers Gaveston? Hugh Despenser? Isabella and her lover Mortimer?

All in all a near perfect read, the scenes between Patrick, Sarah and Hugh were downright bone chilling, let alone the effects of the famine on the Irish tenants. Darn near unputdownable, although the last hundred or so pages did slow down just a tad, and the ending itself just a bit too abrupt – although at 700 pages enough was probably enough. 4.5/5 stars and the story of the third “Edward” continues in Wheel of Fortune – but with entirely different characters.