It’s Irish month on
the blog! This story is a short prequel to a new
series.
This
is a short prequel to a series. It begins in 1848 during the third year in the Irish
potato famine. The Protestant landlords have abandoned their tenants, leaving
the Catholic peasants to fend for themselves. Many have died of starvation. And
still, England daily exports thousands of tons of Irish food.
Molly O'Brien has seen her parents die and is trying to keep alive her two
younger brothers. She cannot earn enough working on the road gang to buy even
bread. So, she decides to offer her body to the first man with the price of a
loaf of bread to feed her starving brothers. The man she meets is the gallant
John Patrick, unselfish, generous and with noble intentions toward Molly.
MacShane is a good storyteller and his story captivated me from the beginning. Your heart goes out to Molly and you cheer for John Patrick as he offers her a new life. I wish the story had been longer—a novel instead of a novella—as there were scenes I wanted to see that were omitted.
The only thing that distracted were the quick and frequent changes of perspective (“headhopping” if you will). I’m sure the series will be a good one as it moves to America and a generation later. MacShane is an author to watch.
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