Publisher: Amite River Press
Publication date: 07/12/18
Today I have another ARC review for you guys. From the description, I figured this book was about a journey, but had no idea what kind. I knew the beginning was set in Ireland and I was just drawn to the idea of the female members of a family going on a new adventure and having to make big decisions.
Synopsis:
During the Great Irish Famine the Ewing family made their way from their rural cottage to the village of Highland Way. Annie, the oldest daughter was left to care for her mother and younger sister after her father left to find work in Dublin.
A mysterious letter arrives from America forcing Annie, Lily, and Katy into a harrowing journey. The hand written note not only will expose deep secrets, it will also challenge the strength and fortitude of the Ewing women, leading each member into their own soul searching voyage.
Follow this extraordinary passage that begins in Ireland and leads each woman to uncover their own courage and truths in this new world.
Plot:
The plot of this book was really good and interesting. I liked how it was a journey, physically a journey from Ireland to New York and a moral journey. The girls rise from being a poor, working class family and quickly become wealthy when gaps are filled about their mothers true family. It is a kind of Dickensian transformation as they rise to wealth after not living a comfortable life due to famine in Ireland. However, they manage to remain moral and keep their family sentiments whilst so much tragedy and happens.
I think this book also deals with some really important topics. The theme of class is extremely prevalent throughout the book, and at times it offers an insight into the horrific nature of being working class during this period in both England and America. This is specifically highlighted in the conditions on the ship to New York and the vast amount of orphans in New York.
The structure of the plot is quite traditional in the sense that the characters rise morally and in their wealth. But also the book finishes with a marriage of one of the central characters and the other characters end up happy.
Characters:
I loved how this book was centred around the female characters. I found it really interesting how in the beginning of their journey they are without the male figure in their family. They start this large adventure and for the most part are completely on their own and have to display their strengths as a female unit.
We also get to know the characters in a lot of depth as the book spans a large period of time, I think it begins as Annie (the eldest Ewing child) is 14 and by the end of the book she is 19 or 20. So there is a lot of character development and you get to see the reactions of all the characters to some tragic events. In this sense, the female characters get stronger and stronger and they are very independent, successful and headstrong characters throughout everything that happens.
Writing:
The only downfall of this book for me was the writing. I found the general writing effective but I just couldn’t find the dialogue convincing enough. There also wasn’t much description of scenes etc, this to me didn’t feel out of place as it was definitely a character centred book and therefore it made sense that there wasn’t lots of leafy description everywhere. One thing that I prefer in writing is to be shown why a character is good and virtuous, rather than be told. But this is definitely personal preference and I don’t think this would bother the majority of people. I also felt like the general writing style was effective considering the characters, who are people of working class in the 19th century, so as I said it didn’t make sense to have a large proportion of flowery and intricate language. I really liked this choice.
Rating: ★★★
I rated this overall 3 stars, I really enjoyed the plot and I felt it was a good portrayal of strong and independent female characters.
Molly ♥
Molly Elizabeth Marcelle Books 