Leaving Ireland

by Ann Moore

Overview

An Irish mother must flee her beloved homeland for a new life in America, in the “gripping” second novel of the acclaimed historical trilogy (Publishers Weekly).

Forced to flee Ireland, Gracelin O’Malley boards a coffin ship bound for America, taking her young daughter with her on the arduous transatlantic voyage. In New York, Gracelin struggles to adapt to a strange new world and to the harsh realities of immigrant life in a city teeming with crime, corruption, and anti-Irish prejudice. As she tries to make a life for herself and her daughter, she reunites with her brother, Sean . . . and a man she thought she’d never see again. When her friendship with a runaway slave sweeps her into the volatile abolitionist movement, Gracelin gains entrée to the drawing rooms of the wealthy and powerful. Still, the injustice all around her threatens the future of those she loves, and once again, she must do the unthinkable.

This sweeping novel of the Irish immigrant experience in 1840s America brings a long-ago world to vibrant life and continues a remarkable heroine’s bold, dramatic journey through extraordinary times.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781504054591
Publisher:	Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.
Publication date:	08/21/2018
Series:	The Gracelin O'Malley Trilogy , #2
Pages:	350
Sales rank:	609,766
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

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.

Editorial Reviews

"Gripping . . . The relentless drama of [Gracelin’s] fight to survive, as well as the rich contextual details, make Moore’s [second] effort as absorbing and accomplished as her first.” —Publishers Weekly

“Moore blends romance and adventure. . . . Strong and likable characters and a well-paced story will make readers look forward to Gracelin’s next appearance.” —Booklist

“A deep action-packed historical novel that leaves the audience with a full five senses feeling for the 1840s.” —Midwest Book Review

“Engaging characters . . . This well-researched saga presents a world filled with vivid sights, sounds, and smells . . . satisfying.” —The Sun (Bremerton, Washington)

From the Publisher

Yes, Gracelin O'Malley is another plucky Irish girl headed to America for a better life, but this gripping second volume of her story (the sequel to Gracelin O'Malley) is densely packed with unwhitewashed historical facts unusual in the romance genre. Having lost her husband and shot a British policeman, Grace flees Ireland in 1849 at age 20. She leaves a newborn son with her father in County Cork and takes her daughter to Liverpool, where she narrowly avoids the slums that destroy the lives of many immigrants. She then makes the difficult transatlantic voyage with her daughter, where dozens of adults and children die in filthy steerage. The New York she reaches is ugly, crowded, unsanitary and crime ridden. Moore creates a colorful, if familiar, tableau of German butchers, Italian laborers, runaway slaves, Jewish peddlers and, at the bottom of the heap, the Irish dockworkers, bootblacks and others that Grace meets at her job in a Manhattan saloon. As she struggles to make a home for herself in the tenements, she becomes involved in abolitionist and politically progressive circles, fighting anti-Irish prejudice. A few stock villains make an appearance (such as a callous ship's doctor) as do figures like Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Mathew Brady and even Joseph Smith. Moore also follows the fate of Grace's family in County Cork and the Irish political upheavals of the era. The relentless drama of Grace's fight to survive, as well as the rich contextual details, make Moore's sophomore effort as absorbing and accomplished as her first. (Nov. 5) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The beautiful, spirited Irish patriot who made a bad marriage (her first husband almost murdered her) for the sake of her family returns (Gracelin O’Malley, 2001) and now heads to New York, where life’s tough, the action nonstop, and Gracelin extraordinarily resilient. The story is so packed with action, subplots, and characters that the narrative is often overwhelmed by the excess and Gracelin herself seems increasingly a stereotypical strong woman (she wields her knife like an avenging gangster) than a more convincing creation. It’s the late 1840s, the famine continues, the British are nasty, the Irish rebels angry--and Gracelin has to leave Ireland because she killed a British guard. Morgan Monagh, the great patriot and love of her life whom she’s recently married, has died in prison, and, leaving their baby son behind, Gracelin embarks with her young daughter to join her brother, Sean, in New York. The voyage is a nightmare and many die, but Gracelin survives with the help of the American Captain Reinders, impressed with her courage and beauty. She also makes enemies, though: Boardman, the steward, who hates the Irish; and Draper the doctor, who resents her insisting he take care of the sick. Both, learning about Gracelin’s past, are determined to punish her once in New York, so while she moves into the pub, where Sean lives, and meets his political friends, as well as his Mormon contacts, she is stalked by Boardman. She also befriends Lily, a runaway slave who knows Reinders, who has promised to find the children she left behind. As the action intensifies, Gracelin must use her trusty knife to defend herself, survive a fire, and decide what to do next with her life. Perhaps go westwith Sean--or with the smitten Captain Reinders? More plot-churner than a nuanced and involving story.

Kirkus Reviews