Farewell to Tara

by Roberta Williams

Farewell to Tara is a fictional historical novel taking place in mid-19th century, Ireland, during the Great Famine, one of the most catastrophic famines in history that set in motion great cultural changes in the British Empire, the United States, Canada and Australia. It was a time of turbulence, and this story is told through the experiences of Roberta’s real-life ancestors — two families, the Clintons (poor Irish laborers) and the Loughrans (middle-class farmers). Roberta uses these families as the protagonists in her fictionalized story of poverty, hardship, deprivation, disease and death, but also reveals birth, love, Irish lore, legends and religion, along with cattle grazing, horseracing and inheritance. The culture and history of Ireland is long, rich and complex. And the Irish people are strong and enduring. This is the story of these two families, fictionalized and told through their eyes and experiences in a way that only a natural storyteller can do!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

257 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 26, 2021

About the author

Roberta Williams is best known as the creator of
the best-selling Kings Quest series of computer
games. She has been honored with a wide range
of industry awards and her games have sold over one million copies.

Reviews

[Jaap Jansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very eager to read this book. Firstly, the author created some of my all time favorite adventure games back in the day. Secondly, my wife has ancestors from Ireland, and I was looking forward to learning more about the situation back then. Thirdly, I’m a genealogy buff and love family trees and the research that goes with it.
Due to these circumstances, I bought the book as soon as it came out. Initially I was expecting a more historical non-fiction treatise of the life in Ireland in the 19th century. However, Roberta decided to inject her own ancestor’s stories with fiction. That could have worked out, I was hoping for a Ken Follett like experience. Unfortuately, it didn’t come close to that. I appreciated the attempt and all the effort that Roberta put in, but to me it all appeared a bit corny. Also the insertion of some lengthy historical accurate details made it lose its pace. The parrallel treatment of the 2 families was often confusing to me.
I appreciate the notes, but as a genealogy buff it is hard to miss that enormous liberties were taken with the actual facts. Especially since the author indicates that thousands of hours were spend to research her genealogy, it’s perhaps a bit disappointing what solid facts were obtained, and what remains hugely speculative.
Anyway, maybe her next book will be better 😉

[Seoirse Dunbar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic love letter to Ireland. In this book the author, best known for King's Quest games, writes a fictional account about her ancestors in Ireland from both sides of her family. This book takes place mostly during the Irish famine of 1845 to 1850 and tells how the families lived and survived in that time. We get to know a lot about what life was like back then including some Irish customs and rituals. At times it's a tough read but it's not all grim. There's quite a bit of humour thrown in throughout as well. This book also goes into some detail about how the Irish famine had such a huge impact on the world at the time.

So if anyone has any interest in Irish culture or history this is a must read. All in all this is an excellently paced novel that should appeal to anyone who wants a good story in an interesting and not much discussed time period and shin particular for anyone who has an interest in Irish culture or history this is a must read.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway

This historical biographical fiction story is set during the 1850s potato famine in Ireland. The main focus is on the Clinton family, who through no fault of their own, fall on difficult times. As their demise turned for the worse for the farmers/laborers, I was rooting for them to succeed (or to just survive!). To a lesser extent, the story also focuses on the Loughrans, a middle-class farming family. It was interesting to see how different the families’ lives were during the great famine.

What makes this debut novel so special is that it is based upon the author’s own ancestors. It was very clear that thousands of hours were spent in research, not only with family members, but food, language, customs, etc. The author found a way to weave their tale into a cohesive story. I also enjoyed the illustrations and photos dotted in the story.

As is often the case with historical biographical fiction, decisions are made what to include in the story. Several times there was too much extraneous detail that detracted from the story. For example, towards the end of the story, there is a wedding. As the bride and groom are proceeding toward the ruined church, the story suddenly veers to the 12th century, the Cruise family, and their history. Pages later, I had almost forgotten about the wedding. This happened several times, and I also found that the footnotes were a distraction, best skimmed after reading the chapter.

The author mentioned that there will be a second part of the series that will cover Irish immigration to New York, and their role in the Civil War. I would definitely read this. Amazing effort for a debut novel.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farewell is very interesting as it is but it could be great if the author would flesh it out and make it the gigantic family saga it deserves to be.

(This was a Goodreads give-away.)

[Ginger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before you go

The historical aspect of this book is incredible. I would recommend it to history buffs and those with a desire to learn from past experiences.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. This novel was obviously well-researched but the writing was frankly not good. I just was bored with the story and irritated by the constant use of exclamation points. In order to tell an exciting story, the language must be crafted to convey the excitement to the reader. Littering the pages with punctuation marks won't do it.

[Jason Underhill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farewell to Tara is a fascinating looks at Ireland during the potato famine as experienced by the author’s ancestors. I loved the story of Kate and her family struggles and found I could not put the book down during those chapters.

On a high level I believe the book does suffer from a bit of an identity crisis. It seems like it is trying to be fiction, historical fiction and historical non-fiction all at once and it creates a fragmented experience for the reader. The pictures and footnotes serve to break up the pace of the narrative and I believe the footnotes in general are unnecessary as many of them are not germaine to the plot or point to places like Wikipedia for substantiation.

I believe this book could have just focused on Kate’s family, fleshed out their history and would have been an amazing narrative with more description, more background and a little creative license. It tries to move too quickly through the history and leaves the reader feeling like they’ve only learned very little about this family and Ireland. It also turns back on itself a lot (eg. we learn several times in several different places why potatoes are important to Ireland). Removing the redundancy in the narrative would leave room for more storytelling.

I do hope Roberta writes the next chapter of their life in America, but don’t hesitate to pick the genre and commit to it then really dig into the lives and struggles of these young people who have just arrived in America.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Farewell to Tara tells of one of the most horrific times in Ireland – the potato famine. The potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s caused starvation on a grand scale. Potatoes were the main winter diet of the Irish. With no potatoes to store up for the cold winter months those less fortunate had nothing to eat in the winter months and were left just trying to find food for their family daily. Many going without for days Not only did the potato famine cause starvation and death, but it also caused a job shortage which left many with no way to pay their rent. Thus, many were evicted from their homes and left on the street with nowhere to go. A Farewell to Tara tells about the life of two families - John and Kate Clinton who were one of the less fortunate families and the family of Brian and Jane Loughran who fared better than most. A Farewell to Tara enlightens one to the flight of the Irish to gain independence from Britain along with Ireland's introduction into horseracing. If you like stories and history about Ireland, you will enjoy this book.

[Kali · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won an e-copy of this book in a giveaway. I have to say - for a historical fiction piece, I really didn’t enjoy much of this book. Surprisingly, the writing style was fine. I get that the author was looking to tell the story of her ancestors and I think that’s commendable. However, there was a lot of unnecessary details about the everyday life and not enough plot - it made for very dull reading, and after about 100 pages I ended up skimming the rest. With all of the footnotes, this felt like a nonfiction piece in disguise. Which would have been fine reading if it wasn’t supposed to have been a novel.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that was obviously written with a great deal of passion and knowledge of the tragic famine that struck Ireland in the mid-1800's. Based on historical data it offers a fascinating fictional glimpse of that heart-breaking era for two families. The conditions of that era make it a difficult read at times but it does present some interesting historical Irish and American information as well as a good story.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to win a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

I love the concept of Williams writing this book based on her own family's history, and you can tell how much research she put into it. I felt like the pacing was a bit off in spots, but I still enjoyed it and I think anyone with an interest in this time period would have a good time with this book.

[Kathy Webb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this Kindle edition book in a Goodreads
Giveaway. Thank you to everyone involved.
Interesting - very well researched.

[SkyGrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this copy. Thank you. It had so much information about the potato famine in Ireland. The devastation it caused families was heartbreaking. Death, disease, war these families still struggled to survive.

While the author could fix punctuation and storylines it was an ok book on the subject.