Audiobook16 hours
The Irishman's Daughter
Written by V. S. Alexander
Narrated by Lucy Rayner
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
From the acclaimed author of The Magdalen Girls comes a powerful, unforgettable novel of strength and resilience, set against the backdrop of the Irish famine.
Ireland, 1845. To Briana Walsh, no place on earth is more beautiful than Carrowteige, County Mayo, with its sloping fields and rocky cliffs perched above the wild Atlantic. The small farms that surround the centuries-old Lear House are managed by her father, agent to the wealthy, reckless Sir Thomas Blakely. Tenant farmers sell the oats and rye they grow to pay rent to Sir Thomas, surviving on the potatoes that flourish in the remaining scraps of land. But when the potato crop falls prey to a devastating blight, families Briana has known all her life are left with no food, no resources, and no mercy from the English landowner, who seems indifferent to everything except profit.
Rory Caulfield, the hard-working young farmer Briana hopes to marry, shares the locals' despair-and their anger. There's talk of violent reprisals against the callous gentry and their agents. Briana's studious older sister, Lucinda, dreams of a future far beyond Mayo. But even as hunger and disease settle over the country, killing and displacing millions, Briana knows she must find a way to guide her family through one of Ireland's darkest hours-toward hope, love, and a new beginning.
Ireland, 1845. To Briana Walsh, no place on earth is more beautiful than Carrowteige, County Mayo, with its sloping fields and rocky cliffs perched above the wild Atlantic. The small farms that surround the centuries-old Lear House are managed by her father, agent to the wealthy, reckless Sir Thomas Blakely. Tenant farmers sell the oats and rye they grow to pay rent to Sir Thomas, surviving on the potatoes that flourish in the remaining scraps of land. But when the potato crop falls prey to a devastating blight, families Briana has known all her life are left with no food, no resources, and no mercy from the English landowner, who seems indifferent to everything except profit.
Rory Caulfield, the hard-working young farmer Briana hopes to marry, shares the locals' despair-and their anger. There's talk of violent reprisals against the callous gentry and their agents. Briana's studious older sister, Lucinda, dreams of a future far beyond Mayo. But even as hunger and disease settle over the country, killing and displacing millions, Briana knows she must find a way to guide her family through one of Ireland's darkest hours-toward hope, love, and a new beginning.
Author
V. S. Alexander
V. S. Alexander is an ardent student of history and the arts and loves writing historical fiction with strong women protagonists. The author of several novels and short stories, Alexander’s first novel for Kensington Publishing was The Magdalen Girls, an Amazon best seller, set in 1962 Dublin. The author lives in South Florida where summer is never far away.
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Reviews for The Irishman's Daughter
Rating: 3.5357142500000003 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
14 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It took a great while to get interested but finally was really great
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Irishman's Daughter is one of those rare books that make me wish I could give it more than 5 stars. It is a beautiful, well written, fantastically researched historical fiction novel about a rarely discussed time in Irish history - the Famine of the mid 1800s. I have read a lot about this time period because most of my maternal ancestors immigrated to America from Ireland during this time period. Even though I have read a lot about it, this book gave me more information about the Irish farmers and what they went through during this terrible time.The novel begins in 1845 in County Mayo where Briana lives with her father Brian, the agent to a wealthy English landowner. As the land agent, Brian is responsible for collecting rent from the tenant farmers who grow crops on the land. Tenant farmers sell the oats and rye they grow to pay rent to Sir Thomas, surviving on the potatoes that flourish in the remaining scraps of land. When the potato crop fails, the farmers are left with no food and no way to survive. Briana feels great compassion for the farmers and has been in love with Rory, one of the local tenant farmers, since they were children. As the hunger and disease spread over Ireland, Briana and Rory work to make sure that their families survive despite the odds against them.Briana was a wonderfully written character. The reader could feel her pain and compassion as the drought worsened and I must admit that I cried along with her several times. Her love of her home and the beauty of the Irish countryside is so strong that I consider Ireland to be one of the main characters in the book. I know that it made me want to take another trip to Ireland to see the beauty of it. This is a book that I won't soon forget.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.