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Dear America
So Far From Home: The Diary of Mary Driscoll, An Irish Mill Girl
In another installment of the series that brings history to a personal level for young readers, a young Irish immigrant girl shares her experiences as a worker at the Lowell Mill.
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
40 people are currently reading
2642 people want to read
About the author
Barry Denenberg
47 books82 followersBarry Denenberg is the critically acclaimed author of non-fiction and historical fiction. His historical fiction includes titles in the Dear America, My Name is America, and Royal Diaries series, many of which have been named NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People. His nonfiction books have covered a wide array of topics, from Anne Frank to Elvis Presley. After the publication of An American Hero: The True Story of Charles Lindburgh, Denenberg was interviewed for various documentaries including ABC’s “The Century.”
Denenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Long Island, Binghamton, New York, and Palisades Park, New Jersey. “I was a serious reader from an early age and when I attended Boston University in 1968, majoring in history, I worked in a bookstore at night,” he says. “After college I was a book buyer for some fine, independent bookstores, some of the nation’s largest retail book chains and a marketing executive in publishing.
“At the age of forty I came to the startling realization that the glamorous world of power lunches, power politics, and power trips was not for me. I immediately went to work on the Great American Novel (since destroyed) and was rescued when my future wife, Jean Feiwel (then and now publisher of Scholastic Inc.) made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Scholastic had received a biography of John F. Kennedy that they deemed unacceptable: would I like to try and write one?
“The rest is history in more ways than one. I went on to write biographies of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, J. Edgar Hoover, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley and Voices From Vietnam, an oral history of the war.
“Writing some of the first books in the Dear America series was a turning point in my career. Its popularity and the resulting readers’ letters made a great impression on me. This in turn inspired my writing and fueled my research. With my bookstore background and the help of numerous knowledgeable booksellers I am able to assemble an extensive bibliography on each topic I write.
“I think there’s an art to both writing and research. I’m a good writer but a better researcher.”
Something that has added greatly to Denenberg’s perspective on writing for young readers is his volunteer work as Director of Creative Writing and Library Services at the Waterside School in Stamford, Connecticut. Waterside, established in 2001, is an independent school dedicated to educating gifted children of the communities’ low-income families.
Aside from writing and teaching Denenberg’s interests include listening to music, reading (books not related to his research), swimming, practicing yoga and spending time with his family.
Barry Denenberg lives in Bedford, New York with his wife and daughter.
Denenberg was born in Brooklyn, New York and lived in Long Island, Binghamton, New York, and Palisades Park, New Jersey. “I was a serious reader from an early age and when I attended Boston University in 1968, majoring in history, I worked in a bookstore at night,” he says. “After college I was a book buyer for some fine, independent bookstores, some of the nation’s largest retail book chains and a marketing executive in publishing.
“At the age of forty I came to the startling realization that the glamorous world of power lunches, power politics, and power trips was not for me. I immediately went to work on the Great American Novel (since destroyed) and was rescued when my future wife, Jean Feiwel (then and now publisher of Scholastic Inc.) made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. Scholastic had received a biography of John F. Kennedy that they deemed unacceptable: would I like to try and write one?
“The rest is history in more ways than one. I went on to write biographies of Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, J. Edgar Hoover, Nelson Mandela, Elvis Presley and Voices From Vietnam, an oral history of the war.
“Writing some of the first books in the Dear America series was a turning point in my career. Its popularity and the resulting readers’ letters made a great impression on me. This in turn inspired my writing and fueled my research. With my bookstore background and the help of numerous knowledgeable booksellers I am able to assemble an extensive bibliography on each topic I write.
“I think there’s an art to both writing and research. I’m a good writer but a better researcher.”
Something that has added greatly to Denenberg’s perspective on writing for young readers is his volunteer work as Director of Creative Writing and Library Services at the Waterside School in Stamford, Connecticut. Waterside, established in 2001, is an independent school dedicated to educating gifted children of the communities’ low-income families.
Aside from writing and teaching Denenberg’s interests include listening to music, reading (books not related to his research), swimming, practicing yoga and spending time with his family.
Barry Denenberg lives in Bedford, New York with his wife and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 241 reviews
February 23, 2011
So Far from Home (Massachusetts) / 0-590-92667-5
"So Far From Home" takes us through the life of young Mary, an Irish immigrant to America. She hopes to find work in a mill and send her wages home to her family, to feed them through the famine and - perhaps - one day bring them to America to live with Mary again, forever.
The plot is compelling, but flaws show through here. For one, the usual Dear America diary format has been jettisoned and the diary segments have been broken into "chapters" which are jarring and removes the reader from the "diarist" narrative. For another, the writing is littered with "tis" and "thee" as much as possible, and the result is very difficult to read. Many of Mary's sentences lack proper grammatical structure, making reading cumbersome. Maybe this was an attempt at realism, but the other Dear America books manage perfectly well without going this route, so I don't know why the editors didn't tighten up the narrative a bit. The result is chunky, and I can't imagine that most children will bother to wade through to the end.
In almost all the Dear America books, the authors introduce plot lines tangential to the "main" narrative which are brought to some kind of conclusion before the diary author 'runs out of paper' or 'decides to start a new diary to mark this new life' or whatever other conceit is used to tie up the narrative to a conclusion. Here, however, several plot lines are introduced that simply don't resolve themselves or go anywhere. The side-plot where Mary struggles with whether or not to tell the blind-orphan girl about the death of her parents is forgotten without a conclusion. The side-plot where Mary's sister is hinting that she will be wed soon is never mentioned again.
The ending itself is one big disappointment: Mary learns that a friend has been falsely imprisoned in Boston, so she packs up to go to his rescue, the end. We have to read the flimsy two-page epilogue to find out what happens to Mary and her friend, and the final product is just very bad storytelling. The epilogue itself is practically insulting, as (again, differing from all other Dear America books) it has the narrator dead from disease within two years of the book's ending, apparently because the author didn't want to make up a proper "rest of her life" story for his young mill worker.
Fundamentally, the real problem with this book is that it doesn't know what story it wants to tell. Problems in the factories are mentioned, reminiscent of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", but no explanations are offered other than the fact that the American workers blame the immigrant Irish for providing a constant influx of cheap labor. Beyond that, there is nothing - almost no mention of unions, strikes, regulation, anything. This is disappointing, as other Dear America books managed to tackle the issue in far more depth, so why couldn't "So Far From Home"?
Some of the narrative seems to be written by someone who has issues with women in general, and this is seen especially clearly in the character of Mary's sister Kate. Kate is selfish, vain, and proud, working as a lady's maid for an upper-class family and choosing 'selfishly' to never send any of her wages to her family back in Ireland. This could have been a good opportunity to discuss why so many young women felt they had to turn their backs on their families in order to survive (point of fact, it was very difficult to get a good husband without some kind of dowry or savings, and those official weddings didn't pay for themselves), but this chance is missed because we never see Kate as anything more than a shrew.
I really don't recommend this book. It is not a bad book, and there is a decent amount of history here, but the narrative style is so bad that there's just no real reason to suffer through this book when there are much better out there.
~ Ana Mardoll
"So Far From Home" takes us through the life of young Mary, an Irish immigrant to America. She hopes to find work in a mill and send her wages home to her family, to feed them through the famine and - perhaps - one day bring them to America to live with Mary again, forever.
The plot is compelling, but flaws show through here. For one, the usual Dear America diary format has been jettisoned and the diary segments have been broken into "chapters" which are jarring and removes the reader from the "diarist" narrative. For another, the writing is littered with "tis" and "thee" as much as possible, and the result is very difficult to read. Many of Mary's sentences lack proper grammatical structure, making reading cumbersome. Maybe this was an attempt at realism, but the other Dear America books manage perfectly well without going this route, so I don't know why the editors didn't tighten up the narrative a bit. The result is chunky, and I can't imagine that most children will bother to wade through to the end.
In almost all the Dear America books, the authors introduce plot lines tangential to the "main" narrative which are brought to some kind of conclusion before the diary author 'runs out of paper' or 'decides to start a new diary to mark this new life' or whatever other conceit is used to tie up the narrative to a conclusion. Here, however, several plot lines are introduced that simply don't resolve themselves or go anywhere. The side-plot where Mary struggles with whether or not to tell the blind-orphan girl about the death of her parents is forgotten without a conclusion. The side-plot where Mary's sister is hinting that she will be wed soon is never mentioned again.
The ending itself is one big disappointment: Mary learns that a friend has been falsely imprisoned in Boston, so she packs up to go to his rescue, the end. We have to read the flimsy two-page epilogue to find out what happens to Mary and her friend, and the final product is just very bad storytelling. The epilogue itself is practically insulting, as (again, differing from all other Dear America books) it has the narrator dead from disease within two years of the book's ending, apparently because the author didn't want to make up a proper "rest of her life" story for his young mill worker.
Fundamentally, the real problem with this book is that it doesn't know what story it wants to tell. Problems in the factories are mentioned, reminiscent of Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle", but no explanations are offered other than the fact that the American workers blame the immigrant Irish for providing a constant influx of cheap labor. Beyond that, there is nothing - almost no mention of unions, strikes, regulation, anything. This is disappointing, as other Dear America books managed to tackle the issue in far more depth, so why couldn't "So Far From Home"?
Some of the narrative seems to be written by someone who has issues with women in general, and this is seen especially clearly in the character of Mary's sister Kate. Kate is selfish, vain, and proud, working as a lady's maid for an upper-class family and choosing 'selfishly' to never send any of her wages to her family back in Ireland. This could have been a good opportunity to discuss why so many young women felt they had to turn their backs on their families in order to survive (point of fact, it was very difficult to get a good husband without some kind of dowry or savings, and those official weddings didn't pay for themselves), but this chance is missed because we never see Kate as anything more than a shrew.
I really don't recommend this book. It is not a bad book, and there is a decent amount of history here, but the narrative style is so bad that there's just no real reason to suffer through this book when there are much better out there.
~ Ana Mardoll
July 19, 2019
I have read this book many times but now after visiting Lowell I have decided to write a review. The author paints a very realistic picture of mill life. Touring the mills I was instructed to wear ear plugs because they still had looms in operation. Even with a percentage of looms running from what they had back in Mary's day I could tell that I would not want to work there. A section of floor on the upstairs even vibrated from the looms below. Seeing, hearing and feeling all of this made me feel closer to Mary. There was also an exhibit on immigrants where I learned not only about the Irish in Lowell but several nationalities and how the immigrants shaped what Lowell is today. There are two reasons why I cannot give this book five stars. The first is that it ends abruptly. Secondly, the epilogue is very unsatisfying (though that is typical for Denenberg's epilogues, this one especially so). Both these reasons are too bad because I truly love the story.
March 4, 2011
A young Irish immigrant tries to make a life for herself after a grueling voyage to escape the Irish famine and to seek new opportunities in industrial Lowell, Massachusetts, despite the prejudice against the Irish, dreary living conditions, and the bad working conditions for women. This book is less focused and compelling than most entries in this series of fictional diaries of young girls in the early days of America. And the epilogue must be shocking and distressing for young readers, because Mary is killed off within two years of the abrupt ending of the story. I would not recommend this book for classroom use, and really only for fans who want to read the whole series. The Lexile measure is 710. I'd like to see a better novel about American prejudice against Irish immigrants from a child's point of view. For a better book about at least the Irish famine part of this story, see the heartbreaking _Nory Ryan's Song_, by Patricia Reilly Giff.
May 29, 2021
Like other Denenberg entries in the Dear America series, he fully phoned it in with this one. It's short, with lots of wide margins and half empty pages. There's no real plot, and none of the characters have any omph to them (except for the aunt who, it's heavily implied, throws a fellow teacher off the roof for beating a child?!?). Really dreary and dismal. No resolution at all. Half the characters die suddenly at different points and of different causes. If you're interested in the history of factory work and the labor movement (both of which are purely incidental in this book), check out Hear My Sorrow.
P.s.there are some super egregious cases of poor writing, bad research, and sloppy editing. A few examples:
1) when still in Ireland, some neighbor children steal slops from the pig troughs. The next day the diarist says that it's been two weeks since they slaughtered their pigs. ??????
2) A character on the ship is sick and the diarist is worried he will die. Then she's suddenly at his sea burial without actually telling us he's dead.
3) There is a blind girl who is a minor character. In the epilogue Denenberg states that she goes on to study at Perkins School for the Blind, where she learns the manual alphabet to better communicate with outside society. Ta fuh?
P.s.there are some super egregious cases of poor writing, bad research, and sloppy editing. A few examples:
1) when still in Ireland, some neighbor children steal slops from the pig troughs. The next day the diarist says that it's been two weeks since they slaughtered their pigs. ??????
2) A character on the ship is sick and the diarist is worried he will die. Then she's suddenly at his sea burial without actually telling us he's dead.
3) There is a blind girl who is a minor character. In the epilogue Denenberg states that she goes on to study at Perkins School for the Blind, where she learns the manual alphabet to better communicate with outside society. Ta fuh?
December 13, 2012
The book ended abruptly just as it was getting interesting and then the epilogue was equally abrupt and a little cruel, stating with nary a lick of emotion that Mary died two years later of cholera. Period. The end. A miserable end to a miserable life. And while that is realistic, it's not a fun or enjoyable read. I give it two stars for being educational, unfortunately realistic, and for having a strong female main character.
October 26, 2022
3.5 stars
This was another weird one--and I guess that might just be a theme for Barry Denenberg's contributions to the series. I remembered this one. If "Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie" could have been renamed "The One with the Hemlock Soup," well, then this one could be colloquially called "The One Where The Girl Gets Scalped in the Mill." The fact that so many people recall this specific scene when the series is discussed speaks to how many people read it and found the story memorable.
As an adult who has never experienced food scarcity, reading about the potato famine is even more disturbing than it was as a child. The scene where two strange children are literally eating slop out of the Driscoll family's pig trough shocked and upset me, and highlighted how desperate the situation was. It's easy to see why Mary (and others like her) were willing to accept abuse and exploitation from their employers in America, although their willingness to accept what Americans considered subpar treatment did not make them popular with their American coworkers to say the least. Denenberg does a good job of bringing nuance to the complicated power struggle.
Some say this book reads like an ad for capitalism, and I disagree. It's clear that the author understands the mill girls were exploited and describes ways in which eventually women advocated for better working conditions, organized, engaged in lectures/readings/programs that encouraged creativity and free thinking, and asserted their independence. He states outright that corporations cared far more about profits than human workers. It would have been more interesting to read a diary from someone interesting in changing their workplace.
However, it also makes complete sense why Mary is a "don't rock the boat" type. She's terrified of losing the job--terrible as it is. She's known real starvation, she is trying to save her parents who are still literally starving at home, and if having this job means she gets to eat, she doesn't want to make trouble. These motivations make perfect sense and illustrate just how workers are trapped in capitalism's hamster wheel (or sewing machine or whatever).
She also knows more independence than she had before. She isn't living in her boss's home like her sister, or in a boarding house. (Aunt Nora is pretty freaky, right? What was with that whole thing with the bully teacher's death, btw?). It's fair to say that she's living a better life than in a long time--again illustrating the point of how this traps workers into complacency and obedience.
Just like in Denenberg's first book, there's a potentially queer-coded older girl character. This time, her name is Annie. Something about the epilogue saying she remained childless in her marriage makes me think Annie enjoyed a lot of close friendships if you know what I mean . . .
The problem is this book ends just as it starts really getting going, which I know has a tendency to happen in some of these books. I was not a fan of the rushed "big event" that pulls her away from Lowell. This book was pretty short, and there could have been much more material. In the epilogue, we find out that Mary dies two years later at 17, but it doesn't shed much light on what she did until then, which I found disappointing.
Who is Mary, really? I finished this book, and it's the first one where I don't have a strong sense of who she was and what she wanted from life. Sure, she dies young, but there could have been more indicators, especially after the parents die, and her original purpose in coming to America has to change. Also . . . Mary is kind of mean. Her sister Kate probably was really annoying, but there seems like an unnecessary amount of vitriol for her. Similarly, Mary hates Clarissa (scalped girl) from the get-go, despite the fact that she didn't really do anything? Later, she makes horrendous, racist comments, but until then, it all just reads as over-the-top.
Dead Parent Count: 2. Thanks potato blight!
Bonus Deaths: People on the boat die, there's the weird thing with the teacher???, and of course, we know all about Scalp girl.
This was another weird one--and I guess that might just be a theme for Barry Denenberg's contributions to the series. I remembered this one. If "Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie" could have been renamed "The One with the Hemlock Soup," well, then this one could be colloquially called "The One Where The Girl Gets Scalped in the Mill." The fact that so many people recall this specific scene when the series is discussed speaks to how many people read it and found the story memorable.
As an adult who has never experienced food scarcity, reading about the potato famine is even more disturbing than it was as a child. The scene where two strange children are literally eating slop out of the Driscoll family's pig trough shocked and upset me, and highlighted how desperate the situation was. It's easy to see why Mary (and others like her) were willing to accept abuse and exploitation from their employers in America, although their willingness to accept what Americans considered subpar treatment did not make them popular with their American coworkers to say the least. Denenberg does a good job of bringing nuance to the complicated power struggle.
Some say this book reads like an ad for capitalism, and I disagree. It's clear that the author understands the mill girls were exploited and describes ways in which eventually women advocated for better working conditions, organized, engaged in lectures/readings/programs that encouraged creativity and free thinking, and asserted their independence. He states outright that corporations cared far more about profits than human workers. It would have been more interesting to read a diary from someone interesting in changing their workplace.
However, it also makes complete sense why Mary is a "don't rock the boat" type. She's terrified of losing the job--terrible as it is. She's known real starvation, she is trying to save her parents who are still literally starving at home, and if having this job means she gets to eat, she doesn't want to make trouble. These motivations make perfect sense and illustrate just how workers are trapped in capitalism's hamster wheel (or sewing machine or whatever).
She also knows more independence than she had before. She isn't living in her boss's home like her sister, or in a boarding house. (Aunt Nora is pretty freaky, right? What was with that whole thing with the bully teacher's death, btw?). It's fair to say that she's living a better life than in a long time--again illustrating the point of how this traps workers into complacency and obedience.
Just like in Denenberg's first book, there's a potentially queer-coded older girl character. This time, her name is Annie. Something about the epilogue saying she remained childless in her marriage makes me think Annie enjoyed a lot of close friendships if you know what I mean . . .
The problem is this book ends just as it starts really getting going, which I know has a tendency to happen in some of these books. I was not a fan of the rushed "big event" that pulls her away from Lowell. This book was pretty short, and there could have been much more material. In the epilogue, we find out that Mary dies two years later at 17, but it doesn't shed much light on what she did until then, which I found disappointing.
Who is Mary, really? I finished this book, and it's the first one where I don't have a strong sense of who she was and what she wanted from life. Sure, she dies young, but there could have been more indicators, especially after the parents die, and her original purpose in coming to America has to change. Also . . . Mary is kind of mean. Her sister Kate probably was really annoying, but there seems like an unnecessary amount of vitriol for her. Similarly, Mary hates Clarissa (scalped girl) from the get-go, despite the fact that she didn't really do anything? Later, she makes horrendous, racist comments, but until then, it all just reads as over-the-top.
Dead Parent Count: 2. Thanks potato blight!
Bonus Deaths: People on the boat die, there's the weird thing with the teacher???, and of course, we know all about Scalp girl.
June 13, 2011
A very very good story about the life of Mary Driscoll who may actually be one of my ancestors. She wrote this diary probably not knowing it would every be published and read by lots of people. Its a great look into history. Like looking into a little window and watching her life as well as Aunt Nora's, a small bit of Sean's, her sister's and those of the Irish immigrants. I absolutely love it!!!!! My grandmother sent this to me a few months ago and i never thought to read it. But then one day I just picked it up. I pained me to put it down to go to sleep at night. I suggest it for anyone who likes history. And a good story.
August 11, 2011
Sad sad sad sad sad. Not a lived-happily-ever-after book; which I have no qualms against, but please, with this type of book, you might as well have not written the book in the first place if the main character's going to die- it's a bit pointless!
June 7, 2017
I liked this book,this book was about a girl named Mary Driscoll and she goes to America.
November 6, 2024
The writing is odd and full of ‘tis and ‘twas and whatnot. Theres many characters that I was like “wait who even are you.” I often felt like I was missing pieces and lost track of all the side plots that were touched on, and then never wrapped up. The blind girl and telling her that her parents were dead? The sister wanting love potions? The scalped girl? DID HER AUNT PUSH A TEACHER OFF A ROOF OR WHAT? And the epilogue is just like “she died two years later.” Wow.
December 9, 2025
Important information and very suitable for a young reader, but even a young reader would find the protagonist boring as hell.
January 6, 2012
A Book Review of So Far From Home
by Saung, Grade 7, Yangon International School
Imagine yourself being a teenage girl who transfers from Ireland to work in America without your parents, to earn money for the family and to stand yourself. How do you pass this life? Can you face these problems like Mary? But Mary did the best for her family although she was a teenage girl. Also she had to work in a spinning room that was noisy and dangerous. The Author Barry Denenberg is the author of several critically acclaimed books for middle-grade and young adult readers. He also wrote about many important areas of American history. In his novel So Far From Home, he represents the troubles and struggles of transferred workers from Ireland to America. This book helps one consider whether he or she could give up a known life for the hardship of unknown.
When Ma and Mary visited Aunt Nora in America, Mary learned about amazing opportunities in America. She took a risk to America for a better job. And then, she worked as a mill girl. Her sister, Kate, who did not care about Mary, worked as a maid in America. Mary lived lonely and felt depression, because she worked tiredly and there was no friend to talk with her. After some experiences, Mary could not see America as the land of opportunity concluded by Aunt Nora.
I thought the title So Far From Home can capture the essence of the book. I also thought the author wanted the readers to know the struggles of transferred workers from Ireland to America. He also described about how they lived poorly in other countries away from the family and how they solved their problems in the works. In this book, the descriptions of the authors were simple and interesting. I like the kindness of Mary upon her family. I liked the character of Mary because she worked hard to earn money difficultly for her family without complaining even though she was a teenager and a girl.
Therefore, every young adult should read this book to emulate the good characters of Mary and to understand the struggles of the world and the troubles of poor family. “On a scale of 1 (low) to five (high), I give this book a scale of three because this book was interesting and sad but in some plots it is kind of boring and not exciting.
by Saung, Grade 7, Yangon International School
Imagine yourself being a teenage girl who transfers from Ireland to work in America without your parents, to earn money for the family and to stand yourself. How do you pass this life? Can you face these problems like Mary? But Mary did the best for her family although she was a teenage girl. Also she had to work in a spinning room that was noisy and dangerous. The Author Barry Denenberg is the author of several critically acclaimed books for middle-grade and young adult readers. He also wrote about many important areas of American history. In his novel So Far From Home, he represents the troubles and struggles of transferred workers from Ireland to America. This book helps one consider whether he or she could give up a known life for the hardship of unknown.
When Ma and Mary visited Aunt Nora in America, Mary learned about amazing opportunities in America. She took a risk to America for a better job. And then, she worked as a mill girl. Her sister, Kate, who did not care about Mary, worked as a maid in America. Mary lived lonely and felt depression, because she worked tiredly and there was no friend to talk with her. After some experiences, Mary could not see America as the land of opportunity concluded by Aunt Nora.
I thought the title So Far From Home can capture the essence of the book. I also thought the author wanted the readers to know the struggles of transferred workers from Ireland to America. He also described about how they lived poorly in other countries away from the family and how they solved their problems in the works. In this book, the descriptions of the authors were simple and interesting. I like the kindness of Mary upon her family. I liked the character of Mary because she worked hard to earn money difficultly for her family without complaining even though she was a teenager and a girl.
Therefore, every young adult should read this book to emulate the good characters of Mary and to understand the struggles of the world and the troubles of poor family. “On a scale of 1 (low) to five (high), I give this book a scale of three because this book was interesting and sad but in some plots it is kind of boring and not exciting.
March 13, 2018
Unfortunately, not a great Dear America diary. I considered giving this 2.5 stars, but the historical notes saved it a bit. I think it’ll be easiest if I list out pros and cons:
Cons:
-this book was noticeably shorter than other Dear America books. The diary portion of this one was 141 pages. The Salem witch trials diary I just finished was 220 (just the diary portion). The next book on my shelf (about a slave girl): 169. Not to mention this book had a fair amount of white space. This doesn’t automatically equal a worse book but it’s one of many points which make me think the author is lazy
-to go with the point above, this book is about an Irish mill worker and yet I never got a sense of what Mary actually did? You’d think that for how many m long grueling hours in a mill Mary worked I’d get a sense of what she does and the procedures that go with it, what she does on her breaks, etc.
-the author really didn’t keep up with secondary characters very well. A 14 year old girl moves away from her parents and rarely mentions them afterwards? And her sister just pops in and out a few times? Come on.
-*spoiler* the ending and epilogue are lazy. It looks like Mary is about to leave mill work and meet up with a friend in distress and BOOM- end of the book. Plus she dies 2 years later? I understand that would have been accurate for a person to die of cholera, but again it just seems lazy- the epilogue was barely over a page compared to others in the series which would go on for pages.
Pros
In spite of my venting there are some good things about this book
-the author did make a point of showing how the Irish were indeed discriminated against and for what reasons. The discrimination is mentioned in many places- from Mary’s quarrel with another girl, to other characters who had trouble finding work, to terrible working conditions the Irish uniquely had to face.
-although the author didn’t do much to explain how the machines worked, he did paint some nasty (and realistic) examples of how dangerous they can be. Yikes.
-the long voyage Mary had to take to get to America was also fairly accurate. Same with how people were deemed fit/ not fit to come to America.
Cons:
-this book was noticeably shorter than other Dear America books. The diary portion of this one was 141 pages. The Salem witch trials diary I just finished was 220 (just the diary portion). The next book on my shelf (about a slave girl): 169. Not to mention this book had a fair amount of white space. This doesn’t automatically equal a worse book but it’s one of many points which make me think the author is lazy
-to go with the point above, this book is about an Irish mill worker and yet I never got a sense of what Mary actually did? You’d think that for how many m long grueling hours in a mill Mary worked I’d get a sense of what she does and the procedures that go with it, what she does on her breaks, etc.
-the author really didn’t keep up with secondary characters very well. A 14 year old girl moves away from her parents and rarely mentions them afterwards? And her sister just pops in and out a few times? Come on.
-*spoiler* the ending and epilogue are lazy. It looks like Mary is about to leave mill work and meet up with a friend in distress and BOOM- end of the book. Plus she dies 2 years later? I understand that would have been accurate for a person to die of cholera, but again it just seems lazy- the epilogue was barely over a page compared to others in the series which would go on for pages.
Pros
In spite of my venting there are some good things about this book
-the author did make a point of showing how the Irish were indeed discriminated against and for what reasons. The discrimination is mentioned in many places- from Mary’s quarrel with another girl, to other characters who had trouble finding work, to terrible working conditions the Irish uniquely had to face.
-although the author didn’t do much to explain how the machines worked, he did paint some nasty (and realistic) examples of how dangerous they can be. Yikes.
-the long voyage Mary had to take to get to America was also fairly accurate. Same with how people were deemed fit/ not fit to come to America.
March 1, 2023
Not the best of the series but so nostalgic!
When it comes to historical fiction, the Dear America series will always be near and dear to my heart. I grew up on the series and even in my twenties, I'm proud of my (almost) complete collection and will occasionally take a trip down memory lane. There are a couple of hits and misses, but in a nutshell, the series is a must-read!
Likes:
~So Far From Home was one of the first of the series I read so I have a lot of love for this.
~Interesting topic: Potatoe Famine in Ireland and then working in the mill.
~There were a bunch of extras at the end. Pictures, drawings, and documents.
Dislikes:
~ It's not only the ending that's abrupt. The epilogue is depressingly short, and the tone is prickly. Realistic though it may be...yeesh.
~ It's a shame Mary didn't have more personality because there was a lot more potential for her character. The only thing on her mind was work. Granted, she was earning money to send for her family but...that's the only thing we ever see from her. I would have loved to have connected with her more.
~I feel this could have been much better if the entries weren't so random and empty. They jumped around so often, and they lacked heart. It was more like Mary was simply listing facts and statements rather than real thoughts.
Overall:
~Looking over my review, I didn't realize there were so many points that I didn't care for. This story had real potential.
~Despite my qualms, this book will always be special to me. If it wasn't for the nostalgia, I'd probably give this 1.5-2 stars and call it quits. However, there's the nostalgia to take into consideration so I'm going to bump it up to 2.5. I considered 3 stars but given all my dislikes, that seemed too biased and I want my reviews to be as honest as possible.
When it comes to historical fiction, the Dear America series will always be near and dear to my heart. I grew up on the series and even in my twenties, I'm proud of my (almost) complete collection and will occasionally take a trip down memory lane. There are a couple of hits and misses, but in a nutshell, the series is a must-read!
Likes:
~So Far From Home was one of the first of the series I read so I have a lot of love for this.
~Interesting topic: Potatoe Famine in Ireland and then working in the mill.
~There were a bunch of extras at the end. Pictures, drawings, and documents.
Dislikes:
~ It's not only the ending that's abrupt. The epilogue is depressingly short, and the tone is prickly. Realistic though it may be...yeesh.
~ It's a shame Mary didn't have more personality because there was a lot more potential for her character. The only thing on her mind was work. Granted, she was earning money to send for her family but...that's the only thing we ever see from her. I would have loved to have connected with her more.
~I feel this could have been much better if the entries weren't so random and empty. They jumped around so often, and they lacked heart. It was more like Mary was simply listing facts and statements rather than real thoughts.
Overall:
~Looking over my review, I didn't realize there were so many points that I didn't care for. This story had real potential.
~Despite my qualms, this book will always be special to me. If it wasn't for the nostalgia, I'd probably give this 1.5-2 stars and call it quits. However, there's the nostalgia to take into consideration so I'm going to bump it up to 2.5. I considered 3 stars but given all my dislikes, that seemed too biased and I want my reviews to be as honest as possible.
August 16, 2020
I enjoyed the story... and it was very interesting to learn of the famine in Ireland, all the Irish who emigrated to other countries, and Mill life for girls in the 1840's. However, this book had a horrible ending... I thought things were about to get more exciting and it just abruptly ended! I was not expecting it to end that way, and it kind of ruined the book for me. I think the book is good for an educational resource though. Keeping it for my children to read (and learn) someday. We truly don't realize how GOOD we have it in America!!
December 4, 2016
I had trouble with the tis' and twas" that was so prevalent in the writing of Mary Driscoll. While I enjoyed reading about Mary in Ireland and even aboard the boat that brought her to America; I did not enjoy the story as much while she was in Lowell. I thought Annie and Aunt Nora were just too out there for me and left things a little unbalanced. It was a good read but not one I would re-read. I think the focus of the story was lost amongst the people in Mary's life.
October 6, 2015
A Quickie Review
A bit better than the other Dear America book that I read by this author...but still not as good as usual for this series. Fans of historical fiction can do much better.
A bit better than the other Dear America book that I read by this author...but still not as good as usual for this series. Fans of historical fiction can do much better.
August 19, 2025
I will start off this review by stating that one of my favorite very niche bits of fandom drama is that so many of the Dear America girlies hate Barry Denenberg. The vitriol for this man in the reviews I've seen just never cease to make me chuckle.
But... this one ain't it. First of all, as many of the reviews state, it was annoying to read the author attempt to write in an Irish cadence. It just didn't seem genuine. (For example- "sitting on the beach, we were, watching the waves come in...") Secondly, this diary was extremely short and surface level, even for a Dear America installment. The story ends in an extremely awkward place and feels like the author reached a deadline rather than chose to wrap up the plot. I was trying to remember why I don't remember anything about this story* and STILL remember not enjoying it, and now I know why- it feels "off" because it didn't have a resolution. ALSO THE MAIN CHARACTER DIES TWO YEARS LATER? This falls into same category as my The Light into the Storm critique- the author CHOOSES what happens in the epilogue; he didn't have to do all dat.
Three critiques that don't matter but just annoyed me personally:
1. Why did Denenberg choose to set this story in 1847 when the bulk of Irish immigrants started working in the mills later? The historical note mentioned all of the girls working in the mills were Irish post 1850 because of the conditions being so deplorable. That would have been more interesting to me.
2. I hated the Kate slander. I happen to agree with her that working for a rich lady would be better than working in a mill. Mary was so holier-than-thou and judgmental, omg.
3. I HATE when authors try to connect their standalone books. Denenberg does it with all of his (Alice goes to Perkins School for the Blind, which was where the protagonist goes in in MMOTW, where they perform a play based on WWTCWBO.) (Yes, I am way too immersed in the lore.) However, Kristiana Gregory does this too, and she doesn't get to get away with it. I hate it when she does it, too, but it's far less egregious than Denenberg.
All in all, this installment could have been way better, but it just misses the mark in so many ways.
*I DO remember the girl getting her scalp pulled off. Youch!
But... this one ain't it. First of all, as many of the reviews state, it was annoying to read the author attempt to write in an Irish cadence. It just didn't seem genuine. (For example- "sitting on the beach, we were, watching the waves come in...") Secondly, this diary was extremely short and surface level, even for a Dear America installment. The story ends in an extremely awkward place and feels like the author reached a deadline rather than chose to wrap up the plot. I was trying to remember why I don't remember anything about this story* and STILL remember not enjoying it, and now I know why- it feels "off" because it didn't have a resolution. ALSO THE MAIN CHARACTER DIES TWO YEARS LATER? This falls into same category as my The Light into the Storm critique- the author CHOOSES what happens in the epilogue; he didn't have to do all dat.
Three critiques that don't matter but just annoyed me personally:
1. Why did Denenberg choose to set this story in 1847 when the bulk of Irish immigrants started working in the mills later? The historical note mentioned all of the girls working in the mills were Irish post 1850 because of the conditions being so deplorable. That would have been more interesting to me.
2. I hated the Kate slander. I happen to agree with her that working for a rich lady would be better than working in a mill. Mary was so holier-than-thou and judgmental, omg.
3. I HATE when authors try to connect their standalone books. Denenberg does it with all of his (Alice goes to Perkins School for the Blind, which was where the protagonist goes in in MMOTW, where they perform a play based on WWTCWBO.) (Yes, I am way too immersed in the lore.) However, Kristiana Gregory does this too, and she doesn't get to get away with it. I hate it when she does it, too, but it's far less egregious than Denenberg.
All in all, this installment could have been way better, but it just misses the mark in so many ways.
*I DO remember the girl getting her scalp pulled off. Youch!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 7, 2020
Wonderful story but fair warning, tis filled with tons of grievances!! Great history information at the end of the story!
June 8, 2020
Even though it was a short story, it has taught me a lot. I will be looking into more books about the Great Famine. Very sad times😔
April 14, 2022
A bit gruesome, but also awesome!
January 7, 2023
Amazing!
May 23, 2023
I have always loved to hear the diary entries of historical women's lives and what they went through during that time and what they did to become a part of our history.
April 24, 2024
I guess I'm just not a fan, these books tend to be sad and depress me😞
Read
August 2, 2011So Far From Home, The Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl by Barry Denenberg, one of the Dear America series.
When the story opens, Mary is in Ireland at the height of the potato famine. Friends and family members are dying. Others have gone to America in hopes of finding a brighter future. Mary's sister and aunt have already left for America, and soon it will be Mary's turn. When her ticket arrives, you can feel her excitement and sadness all at once. Excitement at starting a new life, sadness at leaving loved ones and friends behind, not knowing if she'll ever see them again.
The entries from Mary's boat trip are full of excitement at finally heading off, but also disappointment at the conditions she must endure on the boat. At only 14 years of age, Mary is scared and lonely, but not for long. She meets and is 'adopted' by a couple who help her get through the trip safely. They make sure she is fed and washed and kept safe from people who would take advantage of a young girl traveling alone.
Her happiness upon seeing her Aunt Nora and meeting her coworkers in the spinning room at the mill is tangible. Just as tangible is Mary's shock and sadness at the tragedies that befall her friends and family. The noise and unsafe conditions at the mill are described in vivid detail, and the accidents that injure her coworkers are shocking enough to have entered my dreams the night after I read about them.
I read the entire book in two sittings. I have promised myself to finish the series when I get back to school.
When the story opens, Mary is in Ireland at the height of the potato famine. Friends and family members are dying. Others have gone to America in hopes of finding a brighter future. Mary's sister and aunt have already left for America, and soon it will be Mary's turn. When her ticket arrives, you can feel her excitement and sadness all at once. Excitement at starting a new life, sadness at leaving loved ones and friends behind, not knowing if she'll ever see them again.
The entries from Mary's boat trip are full of excitement at finally heading off, but also disappointment at the conditions she must endure on the boat. At only 14 years of age, Mary is scared and lonely, but not for long. She meets and is 'adopted' by a couple who help her get through the trip safely. They make sure she is fed and washed and kept safe from people who would take advantage of a young girl traveling alone.
Her happiness upon seeing her Aunt Nora and meeting her coworkers in the spinning room at the mill is tangible. Just as tangible is Mary's shock and sadness at the tragedies that befall her friends and family. The noise and unsafe conditions at the mill are described in vivid detail, and the accidents that injure her coworkers are shocking enough to have entered my dreams the night after I read about them.
I read the entire book in two sittings. I have promised myself to finish the series when I get back to school.
January 30, 2020
This is definitely one of the most dreary entries in the Dear America series. So dreary, in fact, that they rewrote the ending of this one for the TV adaption to make it less depressing. I don't think that the protagonist Mary experiences any real moments of happiness or triumph in the story. Rather, her life seems to move from one tragedy to the next.
That's not to say that this isn't an interesting book. I thought that the information about the mills and the girls working there was really fascinating. I also thought that the book did a good job showing the interactions between the Irish and American mill workers and why the two groups are at odds, and does so in a way that makes it easy to empathize with both groups. This book also features one of the more gruesome deaths/implied deaths in the series.
I think that maybe the message that the author was trying to send here is that America does not always welcome its immigrants with open arms. Often, as in Mary's experience, they are actively resented. This is a problem that American immigrants have been experiencing for centuries and continue to experience today, and I think it's interesting for a Dear America book to go in that direction if that was indeed the author's intent. Or maybe the author didn't mean to send that message and just wrote an unusually depressing Dear America book for some other reason. In any case, although it isn't the best the series has to offer, I would still recommend this book.
That's not to say that this isn't an interesting book. I thought that the information about the mills and the girls working there was really fascinating. I also thought that the book did a good job showing the interactions between the Irish and American mill workers and why the two groups are at odds, and does so in a way that makes it easy to empathize with both groups. This book also features one of the more gruesome deaths/implied deaths in the series.
I think that maybe the message that the author was trying to send here is that America does not always welcome its immigrants with open arms. Often, as in Mary's experience, they are actively resented. This is a problem that American immigrants have been experiencing for centuries and continue to experience today, and I think it's interesting for a Dear America book to go in that direction if that was indeed the author's intent. Or maybe the author didn't mean to send that message and just wrote an unusually depressing Dear America book for some other reason. In any case, although it isn't the best the series has to offer, I would still recommend this book.
April 19, 2017
A Young Adult Novel, So Far From Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 is part of the Dear America series of historical fiction.
So many novels about Lowell take place in the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, when the mill girls were farmers' daughters from northern New England and the Irish were not allowed to work in the mills.
This book opens in Ireland as we meet Mary Driscoll and her family who are suffering in the Potato Famine. Mary travels steerage on a coffin ship; some of the people who befriend her on the trip die before reaching America. Life continues to be hard, but Mary counts herself lucky to be able to get a job in the factory. Her older sister found work as a maid in the mill owner's household and gives herself airs because of her closeness to people of quality. Mary prefers factory work with its definite hours and regular time off (half day on Saturday and all day Sunday).
Barry Denenberg provides a wealth of detail about conditions in Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, about the long sea crossing to come to America, and about conditions in Lowell where the owners had begun to speed up the looms and spinning machines to get more work from the operatives without increasing wages. As is typical in this series, the story itself is followed by a section with illustrations giving more historical information.
The Dear America series is well worth reading and passing on to any young people who enjoy seeing history come alive.
So many novels about Lowell take place in the earliest days of the Industrial Revolution, when the mill girls were farmers' daughters from northern New England and the Irish were not allowed to work in the mills.
This book opens in Ireland as we meet Mary Driscoll and her family who are suffering in the Potato Famine. Mary travels steerage on a coffin ship; some of the people who befriend her on the trip die before reaching America. Life continues to be hard, but Mary counts herself lucky to be able to get a job in the factory. Her older sister found work as a maid in the mill owner's household and gives herself airs because of her closeness to people of quality. Mary prefers factory work with its definite hours and regular time off (half day on Saturday and all day Sunday).
Barry Denenberg provides a wealth of detail about conditions in Ireland in the mid nineteenth century, about the long sea crossing to come to America, and about conditions in Lowell where the owners had begun to speed up the looms and spinning machines to get more work from the operatives without increasing wages. As is typical in this series, the story itself is followed by a section with illustrations giving more historical information.
The Dear America series is well worth reading and passing on to any young people who enjoy seeing history come alive.
February 2, 2016
The first part of the book goes into the story of Mary Driscoll and her life in Ireland at the time of the Great Famine. Ireland's main crop was potatoes, and when disease destroyed the potato crop many Irish starved to death, basically one out of every nine people living there.
Thus many Irish left their native country to move to America, hoping to find work there, save money, and help others move from their homeland to America. Mary Driscoll takes a job at a textile mill (actually, she ends up doing several different jobs over time). Working conditions were horrible by today's standards.
There was, as with other groups of foreigners, a problem with prejudice against them, one of the main historical ways being signs that stated that No Irish Need Apply for a job (NINA) in the windows of various businesses. These books help people realize that almost every single group of people who migrated to America has been met with prejudice and, at times, even violent opposition. Irish, Poles, Mexicans, on and on the list can go. Over time the earliest groups have become accepted into society, but even in today's world their still is much distrust of "those foreigners."
Thus, books like this help us to learn that, for many groups of people, life in the U.S. has, to put it mildly, not been a bed of roses and that the same type of things happen today, showing that people have not learned from history. Perhaps books like this will cause at least some people to rethink their own prejudices.
Thus many Irish left their native country to move to America, hoping to find work there, save money, and help others move from their homeland to America. Mary Driscoll takes a job at a textile mill (actually, she ends up doing several different jobs over time). Working conditions were horrible by today's standards.
There was, as with other groups of foreigners, a problem with prejudice against them, one of the main historical ways being signs that stated that No Irish Need Apply for a job (NINA) in the windows of various businesses. These books help people realize that almost every single group of people who migrated to America has been met with prejudice and, at times, even violent opposition. Irish, Poles, Mexicans, on and on the list can go. Over time the earliest groups have become accepted into society, but even in today's world their still is much distrust of "those foreigners."
Thus, books like this help us to learn that, for many groups of people, life in the U.S. has, to put it mildly, not been a bed of roses and that the same type of things happen today, showing that people have not learned from history. Perhaps books like this will cause at least some people to rethink their own prejudices.
February 4, 2017
I remember when i first heard the name. America visiting her aunt Nora, The were just her ma and her. As back as i could remember Kate and dad stayed behind. Ma would be baking morning and night while dad smoked his pipe as if it was last bowl. I could always smell a visit coming.
Mr. Corcoran. He found smoking his pipe below decks. Sean says the crewman talked about a fire aboard another ship early this year.
Annie Clark I think we were both surprised. I would have like to turn away, but narrowness of path did not allow for that.
Laura Austin fears her name is on the list because she was handing out a labor news paper. Theme is a list that are trouble maker. If you are dismissed they send the list of girls who the corporation thinks to the other mills in the eras. that way you can't find work and cause more trouble.Laura was one of the girls in the turnout last year when they were striking for a ten hour day. They got more time for their meals by twas all.
I think it was a good book. But at the same time it wasn't. But i think people should read it. Because it's a really good book. It was really interesting because it had a lot different languages and because every they wanted to say mom and dad they would say like for mom is ma and for dad is da and that was kinda interesting because they would speak different language is like talking in french or somewhere else.
Mr. Corcoran. He found smoking his pipe below decks. Sean says the crewman talked about a fire aboard another ship early this year.
Annie Clark I think we were both surprised. I would have like to turn away, but narrowness of path did not allow for that.
Laura Austin fears her name is on the list because she was handing out a labor news paper. Theme is a list that are trouble maker. If you are dismissed they send the list of girls who the corporation thinks to the other mills in the eras. that way you can't find work and cause more trouble.Laura was one of the girls in the turnout last year when they were striking for a ten hour day. They got more time for their meals by twas all.
I think it was a good book. But at the same time it wasn't. But i think people should read it. Because it's a really good book. It was really interesting because it had a lot different languages and because every they wanted to say mom and dad they would say like for mom is ma and for dad is da and that was kinda interesting because they would speak different language is like talking in french or somewhere else.
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