Leaving Ireland

by Ann Moore

Overview

Gracelin O’Malley leaves her beloved homeland for a new life in America in the second captivating novel in Ann Moore’s acclaimed Irish historical trilogy

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:	9781453201008
Publisher:	Open Road Media Romance
Publication date:	09/30/2014
Series:	Gracelin O'Malley Trilogy , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	381
Sales rank:	72,198
File size:	1 MB

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.

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

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

If you ever wondered what life was like for immigrants in the big cities of this country during the 19th century and how they made their way in spite of poverty and adversity, this book relates the story of such a family, an Irish one. The prequel, Gracelin O'Malley (reviewed in KLIATT in November 2001), concludes with its Irish heroine recently widowed and on the run because she murdered a British guard in self-defense. Leaving Ireland continues her story as rebel supporters book passage for her and her young daughter, Mary Kate, aboard the Eliza J. Captained by Peter Reinders, the ship is bound for New York, where Gracelin's brother Sean awaits her. Gracelin's one regret apart from fleeing her homeland is leaving behind her blind infant son, Morgan, whose father lost his life fighting for Irish freedom. Crossing the Atlantic in winter takes its toll on the Irish immigrant families on the Eliza J, but Gracelin gains a "second son," Liam Kelley, whom she adopts when his mother perishes at sea of the fever. In New York Gracelin lodges with Sean at The Harp, a saloon owned by the former boxer, Ogue Dugan and his wife, Tara. She works for them, learning the ways of the city and its harshness toward the Irish. As romance slowly kindles between Gracelin and Captain Reinders, minor plots are interwoven concerning the Captain's work in aid of escaped slaves, Sean's attraction to the Mormon religion, and the precariousness of life in the city as evidenced by revenge, fire, petty crime and civic corruption. This excellent novel not only describes the life and times of the early Irish immigrants in America, but also succeeds in capturing their lilting brogue and spirit, as well as the strong ethnicties that unite them in a new land. KLIATT Codes: SA—Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2002, Penguin Putnam, New American Library, 378p., Allison

KLIATT

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