Gracelin O'Malley
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- £9.99
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
Ann Moore brings to life the haunting beauty of nineteenth-century Ireland and its tumultuous, heartbreaking history in the first novel of her critically acclaimed trilogy
Gracelin’s father, Patrick, named her for the light of the sea that shone in her eyes. But joy and laughter leave the O’Malley clan when Gracelin is six-and-a-half and tragedy befalls the family. Less than a decade later, Gracelin must put her romantic dreams aside and marry a local landowner, the son of an English lord, to save her loved ones from financial ruin. Although she is a dutiful wife to capricious Bram Donnelly, Gracelin takes dangerous risks. With political violence sweeping through Ireland and the potato blight destroying lives, she secretly sides with the Young Irelanders, among them her brilliant brother, Sean, and the rebel leader Morgan McDonagh.
Set against the rise of the Irish rebellion, with a cast of unforgettable characters led by the indomitable eponymous heroine, Gracelin O’Malley weaves a spellbinding story of courage, hope, and passion.
“Lyrical, pitch-perfect prose . . . Historical fiction at its finest.” —Publishers Weekly
“An Irish saga so lilting and elegantly written you’ll be hearing Irish music in your head.” —New York Times–bestselling author Eileen Goudge
“Truly great fiction . . . a grand historical novel . . . full of triumph, full of tragedy, full of hope and strength of spirit.” —The Historical Novels Review
“An epic saga that sweeps you into the life of a remarkable woman.” —Romantic Times
“If you love the lilt of Irish laughter and understand the river of tears that runs beneath it, you’ll take Gracelin O’Malley to your heart and keep her there long after you’ve finished reading this beautiful book.” —New York Times–bestselling author Cathy Cash Spellman
“Vivid historical detail.” —KirkusReviews Ann Moore was born in England and grew up in the Pacific Northwest region of Washington State. An award-winning author, Moore holds a master of arts from Western Washington University. Her trilogy of historical novels—Gracelin O’Malley, Leaving Ireland, and ’Til Morning Light—has been published internationally and enjoys a wide readership of enthusiastic fans. Moore and her family live in Bellingham, Washington.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Troubles are harrowingly described in this finely wrought tale of an Irish beauty married above her station to an English landlord. Grace is the light of her household and only 16 when she is married off to Bram Donnelly, the lord of the manor. Her crippled brother, Sean, hates to see her go, knowing that his friend Morgan McDonagh loves her. She quickly realizes that Bram is a cruel, abusive drunk with a shady past, and that she does not fit in his world. Grace gives birth to twins a boy and a girl but only the girl survives, much to her husband's displeasure. When the potato blight hits and starving people come to the estate for food, Bram shows his true colors, not only refusing to help, but murdering some of them and turning his wrath upon Grace for feeding them. When he realizes he could lose the manor, he hatches a scheme with his mistress to come up with a male heir. Tensions escalate among his suffering tenants, and he knows he's a marked man he even rides his property with his young daughter tied to his back to keep from being shot. Woven into the story is a subplot involving Sean, Morgan and other desperate peasants who have begun to talk of revolution. Grace, somehow stronger than ever, is determined to help. The searing conditions of the Irish famines, exacerbated by the unspeakable greed and brutality of the English, come to grim life in this realistic tale too realistic for some, perhaps but Moore's refusal to ignore the stark plight of the Irish and her lyrical, pitch-perfect prose raise this book far above the romance genre and make for historical fiction at its finest.
