Of Irish Blood

Of Irish Blood #2

by Mary Pat Kelly

It's 1903. Nora Kelly, twenty-four, is talented, outspoken, progressive, and climbing the ladder of opportunity, until she falls for an attractive but dangerous man who sends her running back to the Old World her family had fled. Nora takes on Paris, mixing with couturiers, artists, and "les femmes Americaines" of the Left Bank such as Gertrude Stein and Sylvia Beach. But when she stumbles into the centuries-old Collège des Irlandais, a good-looking scholar, an unconventional priest, and Ireland's revolutionary women challenge Nora to honor her Irish blood and join the struggle to free Ireland. Author Mary Pat Kelly weaves historical characters such as Maud Gonne, William Butler Yeats, Countess Markievicz, Michael Collins, and Eamon de Valera, as well as Gabrielle Chanel, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Nora Barnicle, into Of Irish Blood, a vivid and compelling story inspired by the life of her great-aunt.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Ireland, Historical, Irish Literature, American History, Adult

512 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2015

Reviews

[Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book could have gotten a higher rating from me if it hadn't been for all the name droppings and for the fact that it felt like it took forever for me to finish the book. Now, this is a book that's over 500 pages long so it's no wonder it took some time for me to finish it. But, still, it just felt like the story could have been cut down 100-200 pages or so. But then Nora Kelly would have missed all those wonderful moments of meeting every single famous person that were alive during the beginning of the 1900-century, whether it be a painter, freedom fighter, politician, actress, designer, etc.

Sorry, I will stop with my nagging now. The book was not all bad, I quite liked Nora Kelly and her family. And, it was interesting to read about her life in Paris and everything she experiences, her meeting with Peter, the man she would come to love, and everything she went through during WW1 and after. I especially liked her involvement with the moment to free Ireland and how she would, in the end, travel to Ireland and Galway where her grandmother was born. It felt like a closing of a circle since the first book Galway Bay (That I haven't read) is about Honora Keeley, Nora's grandmother that she is named after and who left Ireland together with her husband Michael and used to tell little Nora stories about Ireland.

So yes, I enjoyed the book, but alas I also felt that the story dragged now and then and that sometimes it was just too many famous people in the story that Nora just had to meet. Still, the book was well-written and well researched and I wouldn't mind reading Galway Bay.

I want to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

[Angela M · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I started this book by reading the author's acknowledgements at the beginning I realized this was a sequel to Galway Bay. So I thought I would read a little of this and see if I liked the writing and then read the first book . After a few pages I was taken with Nora Kelly , her Irish family and friends and Chicago in 1903. Her grandmother, Honora's story would have to wait .

I loved the feisty Nora and her girlfriends who were not afraid to stand up to their boss and by doing so landed better jobs for themselves. Nora sketches designs of clothes and it is this skill that saves her when she flees to Paris . Nora runs from Chicago to save herself and her family from the man she mistakenly gets involved with . It's 1911 and after 8 years in a dead end relationship which turns abusive she ends up in Paris in the years before WW I. Meeting people like Gertrude Stein , Alice B . Toklas , Matisse , Yeats , Edith Wharton and for a while it was fun going to the salons and seeing how Nora's life crossed paths with these notable people .

Nora gets involved with a group of Irish people and the Irish cause without realizing what she's involved in and I wasn't sure either . The politics of it all and how it related to what was about to happen in Europe confused me a bit . Of course , she says she's " of Irish blood " so she's in - but her commitment was not just not convincing to me even in light of her feelings for a man who is very much involved in the cause .

About halfway through and I wanted to go back to Chicago to see what's happening with the people she left behind . Then I have to admit that it gets a little exciting as she plays a bigger role in "the cause" and in the war as a nurse . More real life characters enter the story - Jane Adams, Helen Keller ,Anne Sullivan , James Joyce , F . Scott Fitzgerald but the parade of real people seem to hijack Nora's story .


A big Irish family , an independent woman, love , war and intrigue - what more could I ask for ? It doesn't feel right to me to say that a book could have been much more if only an author had done this or not done that , but I will say that this book just wasn't all I hoped it to be but yet I still want to know Nora's grandmother's story so I will someday read Galway Bay.

Thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge and NetGalley .

[Heather McCorkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning, heartbreaking, breathtaking... It has been a long time since a book touched me so deeply. The rich history of this novel is accurately portrayed in an unflinching way that will rend your heart and open your eyes. While it burns slowly at times and is presented in a non-traditional writing fashion, the message and heart of the story are so strong they carry it along. If you have any Irish blood in you at all, you need to read this.

[Lin S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really do like it when an author invests time in researching their storyline and providing that information to the reader. BUT, I feel this author went too far. It reads way too much like a history lesson and not just an enjoyable escape.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this author's book " Galway Bay" and enjoyed it so much that it inspired me to read more about Irish history. When I learned of this book and its continuation of the story from "Galway Bay" I couldn't wait to get a copy. Fortunate for me the author was coming to Chicago and I could meet her and get a signed copy of this book. I have now finished reading the book and I'm greatly disappointed. The book is sloppy in detail and then resorts to silliness which is beyond sad because it contains the elements of a much better book. The book's first 4 or 5 chapters are set in Chicago between 1904 and 1912. This author claims to have born and raised in Chicago but apparently neither she nor any of her editors knows much about Chicago history or maybe history in general. There are numerous factual errors that any real Chicagoan or student of history would be able to see immediately. To begin the protagonist and her friends are employed by Montgomery Wards as telephone order takers in 1904. The era of retail telephone ordering didn't occur until decades later with the invention of toll free 800 numbers and credit cards. In 1904 electricity and indoor plumbing were still considered novelties and the idea that farmers had phones and were making expensive long distance calls to order things from Wards is just plain silly. Then the author has a character considering the purchase of a Model T Ford 4 years before they started into production. She has another character racing horses at the Arlington Park Racetrack in 1911 when Arlington wasn't built until 1927. Then her protagonist spends a night at the Drake Hotel in 1911 but the Drake wasn't built until 1920. She also misstates the names of two Chicago's most infamous politcians. She calls them Hinky Dink McKenna and Bathhouse John Kelly when their names were really Hinky Dink Kenna and Bathhouse John Coughlin. These errors undermine the author's credibility as a writer of historical fiction and challenged me to bother going further with her book but I did. After the first few chapters the scene shifts to Paris and the obvious errors seem to disappear either that or I'm not as familiar with Parisian history as I am with Chicago's. But this shift in scene is where the author shifts to silliness. She resorts to having just about every celebrity you can imagine that may have been in Paris between 1912 and 1922 drop into her story. These cameo appearances range from Henri Matisse to future president Harry Truman and every author of note from this era. Of course none of these celebrities have anything to do with advancing the story and serve no purpose whatsoever. These pointless celebrity cameos diminish the book's value as a serious work. Now what is truly sad is that there is a worthwhile story buried among the sloppiness and the name dropping. Had the author confined herself to telling that story and doing a little research and fact checking this could have been a worthy sequel to "Galway Bay". As it stands this book is a missed opportunity

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this author's first novel Galway Bay and was hoping for the same magic with this new book. I was disappointed. Though this book was interesting as the main character Nora Kelly worked her way through Chicago and Paris in the years before and during WWI, she wasn't as strong or as interesting as her grandmother was in Galway Bay. I enjoyed this book but thought that the author worked too hard to include too many real people of the times - artists in Paris, members of the Irish struggle, etc so some of the plot seemed to very forced just to bring these people into the plot.

[Raelee Carpenter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Far less personal and present than Galway Bay. Longer than it had to be, with all the dry, redundant political speeches and improbable drop ins from famous dead people only there to add to the word count by reciting facts from their Wikipedia pages.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt the book was long and very slow to develop. It seemed like all that was happening was the name dropping of famous people in that era. It was hard to complete the book.

[Janice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved Galway Bay, so I was very excited to read this book. It started out with such promise and then just fell apart for me. The author tried to cram too much Irish history into this one and falls short. It gets absurd as she brings in practically every well known American and European of the era as side characters. I ended up just plodding through this. So sad because this book had such promise.

[Katherine Coble · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I loved this. I wanted to. And the first part, from 1903-1914, is engaging and winsome. But along with WWI comes a supremely annoying shift in the tale. It stops being Nora's story and turns into a giant info dump about the events of the war, not unlike Ken Follet's WWI novel. There are pages upon pages that are "dinner parties" or "afternoon teas" where one character lectures another about the goings-on. It stopped being the tale of Nora's experiences and started being a dull screed about European politics and how it affected the rebirth of the Irish nation. After the war ends it gets a bit of heart back, but by then I was about exhausted and no longer cared about Nora, The Forest Gump Of The Irish Revolution. (Seriously, Eamon de Valera comes to tea? Really?)

And then it ends abruptly, without real resolution to major plot points.

In fact, one of the reasons I got the book was because I wanted to read about the Irish patriots who rounded up support for the revolution in the States, and the book blurb says that Nora transforms from a clerk at Mongomery Ward to a big force in funding the struggle for Ireland's freedom.


But the book STOPS before that happens. Just stops.


It's a good book that misses out on greatness because it tries so hard to give readers an education that it forgets to give them a story.

PS. The author's first book, _Galway Bay_, is an outstanding read and I strongly recommend it.

[Dianne Landry · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, that makes two books by May Pat Kelly that bored me beyond belief. I couldn't finish either of them.

This book sounded so good. A young woman in Chicago get involved with the wrong man and has to flee so she heads to Paris where she gets involved with some Irish expats and probably has adventures but I just couldn't finish this book.

I have given both this authors books, this one and Galway Bay a try and both were horrible. Fortunately, there are many other books out there to read.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got 2/3 through and although I wanted to finish the book...because I was that far into, I couldn't. It was going NOWHERE. I really enjoyed Galaway Bay and thought this would be a good sequal. Not at all. Don't bother.

[Barbara Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Chicago, Paris, and Ireland between 1903 and 1922, this novel felt like it was written just for me. I grew up near Chicago and traveled in France last year, and I planned to visit Ireland this year BC (before coronageddon). In my mind and memory, I could vividly see all of these places, even down to the streets and buildings. And what a treat when Matisse, Gertrude Stein, Sylvia Beach, Yeats, Michael Collins, and many other famous people made cameo appearances!

Even better than visiting familiar scenery and historical figures, I was captivated by Nora Kelly. Her first-person voice, outspoken ideas, and impulsive spirit brought her to life. I read this book slowly so I could live in the early 20th century through Nora. From the fashionable styles of Paris to the war-torn countryside of WWI to the Catholic/Protestant, Irish/English turbulence of Dublin, it's all here. And when Nora found her family roots in Connemara, I felt like I came home too. A wonderful story.

[Keelie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the scenes where a bit dragged out. Overall, however, I really enjoyed this one. Getting to see Chicago, Paris, and parts of Ireland through Nora Kelly's eyes was an experience. Looking forward to reading more by Mary Pat Kelly.

[Kathy Ludwig · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not wait to finish this book as I did not like it at all. Her first book was interesting and entertaining. This second book was not only boring but all she did was name drop famous people of the era throughout the entire book. I was hoping this second novel would continue the story of the Kelly Family and it really did not. I cannot express enough how much I hated this book.

[Lucia D'Amore · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the end I really enjoyed this book but took me until about half way through to get sucked in.

[Deborah Berry]

Maybe to much history

It is true the writer knows her Irish history, but it became overwhelming in how while it affected the leads world, I found it pushed aside elements of her life that made her interesting to me. Great, she was able to sketch dresses! I thought that was where she was going, but no...she is wrapped up in a kind of who's who of French and Irish real characters and it is the events of history that become the books story, and really she became pretty much a flat character that was just there to name names, and not even really delve into the other characters lives enough to feel like I was reading anything more then a bunch of "history" done in such a grocery store list way, I not only didn't care, but it was the same thing over and over again.

I was more intrigued about why the short chapter that changed her life direction and the books END was more interesting then the many chapters I read before. Hoping with hope that the promise of a great personal story was going to happen, only now it ends with like a huge advertisement of what has to be her follow up book...only I am not willing I think to spend that much money to only get the promise of what could have been a great book! The writer more then has the talent to tell it...that is the only reason I kept on reading, even though I wanted to skip over huge sections.

And let it be known here and now I was a history minor in college. I LOVE history, and I especially love it when it is used in conjunction with a real juicy character to weave one hell of a story that I can feel deep in my soul. This book I feel was only a promise of that. And granted, often today we are lucky if we even get that promise. To give an example, I am a huge patricia cornfield fan, love her Kay Scarpetti character because we really got to know her almost from her very bones to her job intimately, and even though she is involved in very strong story details, she hasn't had a true fan fave book now for quite sometime! You only have to read her Amazon reviews to see the disappointment from her fans.

Well, in this case I think the writer gave the promise of a character that could sustain a whole series of books, but alas she over told the dry side to the point that she sucked what little life she gave her in order to show off what had to have been at least a year of history research!!! That does not in a book make! (Unless you just forget the fiction entirely and give us instead a really colorful and historical book about a real person that lived said history.)

I liked it, but would not really recommend it, which makes me sad because I think the writer has the promise to deliver the right book.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave up on page 312 of this book. Why? Because I was finding everything possible to do in my house except read this book, so that's a problem and it means that it's time to move on!

I loved the premise of this book, but it gets bogged down in the middle when the main character Nora Kelly is middle-aged and living in Paris. She grew up in Chicago, in the thick of Chicago Irish politics and the poverty, but escapes when her hoodlum lover gets aggressive. She moves to Paris to be around a famous dressmaker, and then she gets involved with the Irish rebellion movement before World War I.

I love history. I love Ireland. I love learning about Americans living in Paris. But all those together couldn't make me finish this book that was boring me. Sigh. Better editing would have made this 500 page novel a better book.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard for me to follow all the various battles and political meanderings.
Nora Kelly, Irish AMerican living in Chicago with her large extended family, falls for a giglio who "works for" a famous actress. Nora becomes his mistress (the actress supports the man and uses him as well). When he turns violent and abusive, Nora goes to Paris and finds work with a dressmaker. She lives there during WWI, serving as a nurse. Following the war, she is invited to join a Peace group as a photographer, runs afoul of the thugs who comprise the British "army" there, returns to Paris. Throughout the book, she encounters numerous now famous people from Matisse to James Joyce as well as others.

Too long for me.

[Colleen Maclennan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too long and way too many people related to one another . If Nora said she was from Chicago one more time I was going to scream. Too many characters . Too much of a history lesson . However her family in Chicago were much more interesting than the numerous people she meet in Paris .

[Gia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars, but....since my remark upon completing the book was "thank goodness it's over" maybe I should re-think?
The story was interesting but the writing style really irritated me. Short, incomplete sentences make for an abrupt style.

[Onni · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too involved in the politics abroad of bringing Home Rule to Ireland, and a very thin story line for the protagonist. She exists as a narrator for the timeline of events who can name drop early 20th century celebrities.

[Anthony Murphy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry, I can't finish this book. It is way too boring and written very haphazardly. Galway Bay is a much better book

[gardienne_du_feu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chicago, 1903. Nora Kelly ist jung, modebewusst und nicht auf den Mund gefallen und hat Glück, dass eine Auseinandersetzung am Arbeitsplatz nicht mit ihrem Rauswurf endet, sondern ihr eine neue Chance als Modedesignerin für einen Versandhauskatalog bietet. Ihr Glück scheint perfekt, als ihr auch noch der charmante Tim McShane begegnet und eine leidenschaftliche Affäre beginnt.

Im Laufe der folgenden Jahre zeigt sich Tim mehr und mehr von seiner schlechtesten Seite, und als er Nora gegenüber gewalttätig wird und sie um ihr Leben fürchtet, ergreift sie die Flucht und landet in Paris, wo sie Anstellung bei einer Schneiderin findet, die sich als begabte Imitatorin der gefragtesten Modeschöpfer einen Namen gemacht hat.

Nora ist überrascht, dass es in Paris eine lebendige Community irischstämmiger Menschen gibt, darunter zahlreiche Verfechter der Unabhängigkeit wie Maud Gonne, die ewige Geliebte des Dichters W. B. Yeats. Obwohl sie noch nie einen Fuß in das Land ihrer Vorfahren gesetzt hat, schlägt Noras Herz doch sehr für Irland, das sie aus den Erzählungen ihrer Großmutter kennt, die damals vor der großen Hungersnot nach Amerika geflohen ist, und sie lässt sich bereitwillig für die Sache rekrutieren.

Unter den Pariser Iren ist auch der junge Professor Peter Keeley, der zur Geschichte irischer Familien forscht und Nora bald nicht mehr aus dem Kopf geht, sehr zur Freude von Pater Patrick, einem herzensguten Priester aus dem irischen Priesterseminar von Paris, der nichts lieber hätte, als die beiden eines Tages trauen zu dürfen. Doch Peter meint, er sei als armer Gelehrter kein guter Fang für eine Frau wie Nora.

"Galway Bay", den Vorgängerband dieses Buches, der die Geschichte von Noras Großeltern- und Elterngeneration erzählt, habe ich richtiggehend geliebt und war deshalb sehr neugierig auf die Fortsetzung.

Doch leider hält "Of Irish Blood" nicht, was Teil 1 verspricht. Das beginnt schon damit, dass ich mit Nora nicht wirklich warm geworden bin. Ich habe nicht verstanden, warum sie bei dieser merkwürdigen Beziehung nicht schon viel früher die Reißleine gezogen hat und fand sie auch sonst oft seltsam passiv, obwohl sie von anderen häufig eher als Powerfrau wahrgenommen wird.

Das Passivitätsproblem zieht sich aber auch noch in anderer Hinsicht durch das Buch. Es tauchen zwar nicht nur die berühmtesten Iren des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts teils in größeren Rollen, teils in kurzen Gastauftritten auf, sondern auch sonst sehr viele bekannte Namen aus Kunst, Politik und Gesellschaft auf, von Henri Matisse über Gertrude Stein bis zu Harry Truman, doch dieses Namedropping wirkt recht früh ermüdend und trägt meist nichts Wesentliches zur Entwicklung der Story bei.

Nora selbst erlebt die wichtigsten Geschehnisse der Zeitgeschichte größtenteils nur "über Bande" mit. Am lebendigsten fand ich ihre Zeit als Krankenschwester während des 1. Weltkrieges, da wirkte sie zupackend und engagiert und ihre persönliche Geschichte wurde interessanter. Doch als es vorwiegend um den irischen Unabhängigkeitskampf geht, ist sie nur dabei statt mittendrin - und oft genug nicht mal das, das Allermeiste erfährt sie aus Briefen und den Erzählungen anderer. Auch die anfangs nette Liebesgeschichte plätschert sehr fade vor sich hin und nimmt nie so richtig Fahrt auf.

Mit diesem Buch hat die Autorin ziemlich viel Potential verschenkt. Der historische Background gibt einiges her - die Exil-Iren in Paris, der Krieg, der lange, steinige Weg zur Unabhängigkeit -, aber leider hat mich die Umsetzung nicht überzeugen können und ich fand es großenteils recht zäh zu lesen, weil über weite Strecken kein richtiger Schwung in die Geschichte kam, trotz vielversprechender Ansätze.

Extrem genervt haben mich die sehr zahlreichen Fehler in den französischen Einsprengseln. Wenn nicht einmal Anfängerböcke wie "un cadeaux" vermieden werden können, hätte man es besser gleich gelassen mit den O-Tönen. Auch was die Recherche angeht, bin ich mir nicht immer sicher, wie sorgfältig die Autorin zu Werke gegangen ist. 1911 gab es meines Wissens noch keinen Ford Model T, und ich halte es auch für eher unwahrscheinlich, dass ein deutscher Offizier im 1. Weltkrieg schon von Ariern gefaselt haben sollte.

Sehr wohlwollende 3 Sterne (einen halben davon gibt's extra für den patenten Pater Patrick).

[John Boyda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written second installment of an Irish family's experiences, in this case, from the end of the 19th century and into the 1920s. It stands alone as a historical novel but does have references to the first installment in the series. It follows the main character, Nora Kelly, on her journey from Chicago when she flees an abusive relationship to Paris France. While in France she interacts with the literati on the left bank. When war erupts, Nora works in a hospital treating the wounded - mostly English soldiers. After the war, it documents a dark period in English and Irish history. The English were still treating the Irish as barbarians but the Irish were fighting back and finally gained a measure of independence. However, at the beginnings of the Irish republic there was infighting between the various political factions which led to many inter-Irish killings. Well worth reading, especially if one is descended from the great Irish diaspora. Interesting fact...There are more Americans of Irish descent than there are ethnic Irish in Ireland.

[Darlene Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 1903. Nora Kelly, twenty-four, is talented, outspoken, progressive, and climbing the ladder of opportunity, until she falls for an attractive but dangerous man who sends her running back to the Old World her family had fled. Nora takes on Paris, mixing with couturiers, artists, and "les femmes Americaines" of the Left Bank such as Gertrude Stein and Sylvia Beach. But when she stumbles into the centuries-old Collège des Irlandais, a good-looking scholar, an unconventional priest, and Ireland's revolutionary women challenge Nora to honor her Irish blood and join the struggle to free Ireland.

Author Mary Pat Kelly weaves historical characters such as Maud Gonne, William Butler Yeats, Countess Markievicz, Michael Collins, and Eamon de Valera, as well as Gabrielle Chanel, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Nora Barnicle, into Of Irish Blood, a vivid and compelling story inspired by the life of her great-aunt.

[Jane Irish Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story begins in Chicago when Nora Kelly, granddaughter and namesake of Honora (Keeley) Kelly, is 24. On day on the way to work she meets Tim O'Shane, who changes her life forever. At the same time, she receives a promotion at work, a job she loves — designing dresses. But her relationship with Tim is a secret, and when it sours, Nora must leave Chicago, the only home she's ever known. She heads to Paris, mecca of dress designers, hoping to obtain a job with one. There, she falls in with Irish revolutionaries, and begins aiding them in their struggles to win Home Rule for Ireland. But World War I intervenes. How the two "wars" — both the declared and undeclared make for a very exciting story. While Nora is not always entirely likable, she is an interesting character as she interacts with various luminaries on the Paris scene. Recommended.

[Kendra Richards Ohmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written by an author who is SUPER into Irish history, and there is a lot of detailed discussion about politics and war strategy amongst the characters. The book covers a decade of time, so there are big jumps in time from one paragraph to the next that's a little unique. So if you're not into that at all you might find the book boring; there isn't a lot of "action." The writing style is very unique and casual, and I thought it was kind of refreshing. You will often find incomplete sentences because it's first person narration done in a way that is supposed to be as if the main character is speaking to you the way she would think or talk out loud. Overall a good book, but it's not for everyone, especially if you're looking for a page turner with lots of action to keep the plot moving. I liked it but it wasn't one of my favorites.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nora Kelly escapes a brutal and abusive paramour, but is only able to do this by disappearing from her home in Chicago to Europe! World War I and the Irish rising interfere with her new life and we hear all about it! And wow, do we hear about it! She meets all the Parisian ex-pats, all the famous and infamous of the time. She is introduced to all the Brits and Irish rebels and even spends some time with a young Army officer Harry Truman.
Too much! Too much history, too many historical characters enter her story. I got confused with all the names! If the book didn't end-I'm sure we would have seen her at the Versailles Treaty!
Well, that said, it wasn't a wasted book. I'm 97% Irish myself and some parts of it were rather fun!

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was 511 pages of plenty of facts about the struggles the Irish had and probably still have. It takes place from 1903 until 1944. It involved the war efforts, the difficulties the Irish and American Irish faced to keep their country as safe as possible. There were familiar names used such as James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, William Yeats, Coco Chanel and so on.

I enjoyed the fictional part of the story which involves love, sacrifice, marriage, death and friendship.
However, the pages were so filled with history written like a textbook that I found myself skimming over many of those paragraphs.

There is a prequel to this book entitled Galway Bay which I will read in hopes it has a more interesting theme.,