When Dreams Touch (Literary Fiction, Historical)

By Rosemary Hanrahan

Caught between the 1980s HIV/AIDS global pandemic and the devastating January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, three women strive to realize their dreams. Pregnant and uneducated, sixteen-year-old Adelaide trades her dream of escaping the grinding poverty of her rural village for hopes of a better life for her unborn child. Kate, a young American physician, often finds her roles as mother and wife to be in conflict with her childhood dream to practice medicine in a third-world country. Giselle, a university-educated artist, lives in Port au Prince. While she sympathizes with the plight of her fellow Haitians, she envisions her and her family's future as a comfortable life in the United States. When the violent 1991 coup d'etat erupts in Haiti, these three women's lives intersect and are forever changed. Despite different cultures and life circumstances, the women share in the vision of a better future for their children and the troubled country of Haiti. Their personal stories of adversity, tragedy, and triumph are embedded in the complex social, political and cultural climate that evolves when international assistance programs influence individuals and communities in the developing world. Often in startling contrast, the women portrayed in When Dreams Touch are united through mutual understanding and respect. With courage and perseverance, they confront the broader injustices of the world they live in and create a legacy of enduring hope.

• Language: English
• Publisher: SDP Publishing
• Release date: Apr 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9780991316731

Rosemary Hanrahan

Rosemary Hanrahan (Edwards) is a physician specializing in Pathology and Public Health. She has volunteered and lived in developing countries, including Haiti, for more than a decade. She has published articles and literary works in peer-reviewed medical and non-profit journals and has enjoyed dozens of speaking engagements with a broad range of audiences about her experiences in Haiti. The mother of two adult sons, she currently lives, writes, and practices medicine in western Pennsylvania, and is a board member and consultant for several international and U.S.-based non-profi t organizations. When Dreams Touch is her debut novel, which is published under her pen name Rosemary Hanrahan. www.RosemaryHanrahanEdwards.com

Reviews for When Dreams Touch (Literary Fiction, Historical)

[beckvalleybooks · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a story that will grab and entice any reader, it is extremely hard to put down not knowing what will happen next. The author's very personal connection to Haiti, it's people and the tragedies it has endured brought this extremely humbling fictional story to life. I felt sadness and was emotional even before starting the story as I read the author's moving notes on the earthquake in Haiti and the suffering it caused. This continued and the abundance of emotions felt whilst reading this story was very real. Three women, from different classes and cultures, are drawn together in an amazing story striving for hope and a better future for Haiti. Each with their own poignant story and selfless sacrifices, Kate, a doctor, Giselle, an artist and teenager Adelaide. Although all the realistic characters gripped me, it was Kate who drew me in the most for her courage and strength to persevere in the effort to educate the people of Haiti on the prevention of HIV/Aids & unplanned pregnancies. As the country finds itself in political chaos, earthquakes, slavery and abuse, most people would do anything to avoid the unpredictable clutches of Haiti yet the overwhelming need of the aid workers and local people to continue their mission came across very clear to the reader.The author shows the Haiti people as having such strength, loyalty and kindness towards each other regardless of their own situations. It is hard to imagine why medical procedures, we all take for granted in our own countries, even the simplest of things, are barren in third world countries such as Haiti.This has to be one of the most realistic, heartfelt books I have read.