Water, Carry Me

by Thomas Moran

In the story of a young woman's betrayal, set against the beauty and violence of a divided Ireland, Una Moss, a medical student orphaned as a little girl and raised in a small village by her grandfather, finds herself ill-prepared for the harsh realities of romance, until Aiden Ferrel arrives to change her life forever. Reprint.

Genres: Fiction, Ireland

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Journalist and author. Lives in New York, Woodstock, NY, and Europe. Also writes under the pseudonym of Michael Crow.

Reviews

[Ella Acheson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! It is written so beautifully and combined really all of my favourite genres - that being historical fiction, coming of age, romance and a hint of mystery. I really loved how it painted the relationship between Una and the ocean, I love any book that describes the pull of the ocean and ocean swimming because it articulates it in a way that I can never find the words for. Unfortunately, I read this book quite disjointedly which was annoying because I didn’t quite get into it as deeply as I could have and also I wish I knew a bit more about the Irish civil war before reading! However it has inspired me to learn more. Very much recommend, a lyrical and calming read.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I was desperate to read about my one true love (Ireland), I wasn't sure I wanted to read THIS book. I was afraid it would be another tedious read. After the first few pages, I couldn't put it down. It held my attention the entire way through (that doesn't happen often now that I'm entering my dotage).

[Melanie Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book ... had guessed the outcome early on but not exactly... left me wondering a few questions including had Una been specifically chosen.... or did Aiden genuinely fall in love with her....

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book surprised me in a lot of places, and I definitely preferred it over another Moran title The World I Made For Her

[Joani · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Will break the hardest of hearts."Washington Post"

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story intrigued me for a big part of the book. In the part where all the action happened, it actualy lost some of the magic for me..

[Pam Diggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a word; haunting

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there was a sequel to this story!

[Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked it. Reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney's novels, yet much darker.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the saga of Una Moss, a young woman from Cork, Ireland who is pursuing a medical career and living a life of youthful joy with her friends while in the city, though she lives mostly with her grandfather in the nearby harbor town of Cobh. Her grandfather has cared for her since her parents were killed, ostensibly in a car crash, when Una was a child. The picture begins to become murky though when it is revealed that the grandfather, Rawney, has been assisting some shady friends of his in running guns from Cork to Sligo for passage into Northern Ireland on behalf of the IRA. Into that murk like a ray of sunshine bursts Una's love interest, Aidan Ferrel, a charming professional man who woos Una in many ways detailed in the narrative. All of this sounds like a fairly conventional love story until the action shifts to Amsterdam late in the book. From that point forward the light gives way not to murk but to a maelstrom of events that sweep poor Una in their wake. It is rather obvious from the way the novel ends that this was intended as the beginning of a larger project, at least a pair of novels, perhaps a trilogy or...? The writing is excellent and the portrait of Una that emerges is realistic and empathetic. I do sometimes feel like the Irish obsession with the Troubles in general and the IRA in particular is a bit like Martin Scorsese's obsession with organized crime, but in both cases a lot of good stories get generated. This is also a good story, and Moran is also an American.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

My bookclub chose this book upon my recommendation. Reading it for a second time was just as rewarding as the first. Moran takes the reader into the "Troubles" of northern Ireland via an unsuspecting young woman. Although dark in subject, characters are well developed and lead to a twist that makes one wish (again?) for a better world. Highly recommended.

[Chelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This shared a perspective of one motivation for continuing the unrest in Ireland. This book is a love story with all the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet but also sheds light on the cruelty of politcal unrest in Ireland.

[Jacqueline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and always return to it. Thomas Moran has written a beautiful and thoughtful coming of age story with a profound naivety and blind trust our heroine possesses as a young woman. A favorite.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

book club

[T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book for constantly falling into a pool of confusion. It broke my heart, made a hole in my life, an awful, secret space, a haunting.

[Sensibly Sassy · Rating 3 out of 5]

30th book of 2010

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The end was ever so slightly predictable but otherwise it was a beautiful book.

[Terri Dowell-dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know how perfect this book is in depicting the troubles in Ireland, but this is an emotionally riveting story. I couldn't stop thinking about it.

[Maureen Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written. Haunting.

[Kit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Achingly riveting.

[Leahlady · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish this, stopped on page 74. I normally love Irish historical fiction, but the historical parts were not interesting enough to put up with all the trash and characters that fail to pull you in enough to care about what happens to them.

[Rosa · Rating 2 out of 5]

IRA in Ireland and Love do not mix. Good story but not great.

[Christiane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although “Water carry me” has a powerful theme, in my opinion the execution of this novel is not successful and it ends up as a bland, sugary love story injected with murderous sectarian violence. The ending is largely predictable.

I suppose that in order to make the contrast between innocence and ice-cold brutality even more shocking almost all of the first half of the book is taken up by the antics of a group of shallow Cork college girls living it up on daddy’s money, spending a lot of their time in the pub and bantering endlessly about nothing more demanding than men, sex and clothes. These characters are paper-thin and stereotyped: the womanly Collie, the beautiful, seductive Fallon, the elegant Gaynor and the willowy raven-haired Husky-eyed Una.

In the second half of the book, while Una’s “best girls” continue having affairs, seducing each other’s men and drinking too much we see a love story developing between Una and the gorgeous Aidan that seems almost too good to be true but from the start the reader is given an inkling of dark things to come. As the book gears up for the climax Una and Aidan spend a week in Amsterdam where their romance reaches heights of corniness.

I have to admit that the ending is powerful and shocking but by then the novel could not be saved from my two-star rating.

P.S. Did I get the following right ? : While Una’s grandfather and his mates smuggle arms to the IRA out of conviction, her father does the same out of pure greed but for some reason he sells his goods to the Protestants ? What sense does that make ?

[krdito · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read Thomas Moran's "The World I Made For Her" years ago, I was eager to read something else by this wonderful author. "Water, Carry Me" is a lovely novel....sensual, passionate, and beautifully written. This book with stay with me for a long time, it is that impactful!

[Shai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming of age love story ultimately totally altered by living in the shadows of "The Troubles." I thought of this novel in the wake of just having read Hisham Matar's "My Friends" where the affect of political oppression on the characters' lives is much more explicit.

[Simone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first time I read this I reckon I was in early high school… no idea how I came across it, or why it was in a school library…
So dark, so heartbreaking.