Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly

My family came to America from Ireland . In fact we are from Limerick County. So I have always loved the thought of going there one day. I'm still working on my husband but one day it will happen. In celebration of Ireland and Irish-Americans I want to share the incredible novel Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly.

Description:

Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Selling both their catch--and their crops--to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop--their only staple food. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Honora and Michael vow their children will live.

The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Danger and hardship await them there. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the "City of the Century", fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. The Kelly clan is victorious.

The writing is lyrical and you can here the musical voice of the Irish through the pages. I strongly recommend this novel. It is beautifully written and you are pulled into an incredible story. The novel does look a bit daunting with 551 pages but they will stir your soul.

Learn more about Mary Pat Kelly here