Gracelin O'Malley: An Ireland Story

Ann Moore’s novel, Gracelin O’Malley, begins a heartwarming, inspiring story about a young Irish woman during the 1840s. At age 15, Gracelin agrees to marry the local English Squire to help her family pay the rent. Through the next few years, Gracelin experiences both her husband’s increasing cruelty, and the country’s suffering during the potato famine. She lives with the rejection of higher-society English, and longs for visits with her family, including crippled brother Sean and her grandmother. Through the years she matures, no longer the simple and naïve maiden, yet strong in courage and a hope that goes beyond her circumstances.

The supporting characters are also engaging: embittered Da, who distrusts the Catholic Church; her loving grandmother who took the place of her mother after she died. We see other Irish families, such as the McDonaghs, Catholic peasants headed by a weak-willed father who often deserts the family. Brigid Sullivan is servant to the Squire and Grace, and we meet her children—teenage Moira, and young Nolan. Lord Evans also enters the picture, as an Englishman who helps the Irish.

A good historical novel should also convey history to the reader, and Gracelin O’Malley excels here as well. Most of the story takes place from 1844 to 1847, and several characters become involved in the political unrest, in the Young Irelanders. The setting is a near contemporary with the Thoene’s "Galway Chronicles," (see reviews of Only the River Runs Free and Of Men and Of Angels) and makes reference to Daniel O’Connell, the Repeal Movement and the Monster meetings of 1844—events detailed in that series. But now O’Connell is dead, and famine quickly decimates the Irish. Other historical figures referenced here include John Mitchel (of the inflammatory, anti-British publication The Nation) and William Smith O’Brien, a minor character involved with the fictional Morgan McDonagh and Sean O’Malley.

Yet beyond the politics of the day were the real Irish people, the heart and soul of Ireland. Gracelin O’Malley so captures that spirit, with a detailed, honest look at the hardships of the Irish. The picture is not always pretty, often including graphic descriptions of starving, malnourished bodies, and the horrid smells of disease and poor sanitation both in the city and country.

An interesting plot and strong characters bring a powerful story in Gracelin O’Malley. The author avoids black-and-white stereotypes of characters, showing both good and bad English, as well as good and bad Irish. One Englishman is proud and cruel, yet another, a young soldier, is challenged by Gracelin’s spirited words about her homeland. Ann Moore has written an excellent tribute to Ireland and its people with this book, a great start to a still-developing series. (Leaving Ireland is the sequel, and the author suggests that at least a third book is in the works.)

Where Hearts Live (by Sara DuBose)

Reviewed by Rita Gerlach
There is something special about the Southern Writer, a special bond with storytelling, a unique style in the weaving of the craft of storytelling.

Sara DuBose is as good a southern writer as one would expect to find. Her unique and heartwarming book, Where Hearts Live, is a gem. She paints a picture of Chantilly, Alabama in the early 1950's that changed my mental picture of the deep south being all swamp and heat. Instead her vivid writing style introduced me to houses with front porch swings, hospitality, and shady magnolia trees, as well to a plethora of characters.

Where Hearts Live is a book for young and old alike. The childhood stories of Mary Lynn take us back to our own childhood, for most of us more than likely experienced similar situations.

Where Hearts Live is filled with characters that are real...much like Twain did in his books. There is the lovable Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Molly, and Grandma Lil, and Preacher Sam, a Burl Ives type pastor, whose sound theology, love for children, and gift for storytelling make him a beloved figure in the community and in Mary Lynn's heart. The book would not have been complete without Mary Lynn's dog, Sir Prize. The dialogue is fresh and believable.

I really loved reading this book. I highly recommend it for a relaxing read. Also it is a good book for young readers. Mom's, try reading this one to your kids before bedtime.

Where Hearts Live is also a book that takes us back to a time when values were valued, when love was the cement that bound families together. Where Hearts Live would make a good movie or play. Do not hesitate to read Ms. DuBose's delightful book. You won't regret it!

Reviewer's bio: Rita Gerlach is the author The Rebel's Pledge, a romantic historical novel of Colonial times. She writes with an inspirational mindset. She has written several articles for The Christian Communicator Magazine, and is preparing to publish two new historical novels in a series, a story of the Revolution, England, and the wilderness of Maryland, entitled Thorns In Eden with the sequel The Everlasting Mountains.

Reviewer's web site: http://users.starpower.net/rpkg/index.htm
Reviewer's email address: rpkg@erols.com

Review: The Wolf Hunt

(Forge; 384 pages; 2001) The Wolf Hunt, by Gillian Bradshaw
Reviewed by Lisa Jensen

A scrupulous and compelling work of historical fiction spiced with a dash of fairy tale, this wonderful Gillian Bradshaw novel is in a category of its own—medieval magic realism. Based on a 12^th Century "lay" (or troubadour romance) by French poetess Marie de France, the story presents a fantastical premise—a werewolf story— within the gripping realistic context of the era of the French medieval troubadours in which Marie herself lived and wrote. Bradshaw's novelized version also ponders the very human notions of honor, betrayal, identity and longing that resonate in any era.

The hero of the tale is a Breton huntsman-knight called Tiarnan. A fair-minded lord to his serfs, and a pre-Greenpeace crusader for the environment, he has just one minor flaw to his sterling charactr: he likes to go into the forest on a moonlit night, take off his clothes and morph into a wolf. ("Bisclavet," as they say in medieval French.) His shapeshifting abilities are treated like any addiction; he does it for the rush, the thrill of heightened sensory awareness. And, as is the case with most addictions, he’s tried and failed to kick the habit. But his private passion has unexpected consequences when his silly, scheming new bride and her ambitious former suitor discover Tiarnan's secret. Suddenly, his own future and the fate of his entire estate and all the people who love and respect him are at stake.

Bradshaw's tale is a sly nod to the "Beauty And The Beast" legend. But in this case, a beauty is responsible for transforming the hero into a beast when Tiarnan's angry bride prevents him from shifting back into human shape, forcing him to roam the countryside as a wolf. It's up to a somewhat lesser beauty (but a much more valuable woman) to restore him. Bradshaw ingeniously invents a character named Marie (in hommage to the poetess herself) to quietly assume the role of heroine, but in other respects sticks close to the plot of the original lay. Medieval court life is brought to vivid, robust life, while issues of betrayal, redemption and, yes, love, are beautifully handled. Bradshaw is particularly good with Tiarnan's interior struggle to retain his human identity within the body of a wolf. For readers like moi who had no idea there was even a word for werewolf in medieval French, the very idea is a revelation. It's also an irresistible story that makes for a delightful read.

Lisa Jensen is a novelist, critic, and avid reader of historical fiction. She has been a professional film critic for a Santa Cruz, CA newspaper for 27 years. She also reviewed books for the San Francisco Chronicle for 13 years, where her specialty was historical fiction and women's fiction. Her first novel, THE WITCH FROM THE SEA, an historical swashbuckler, was published in 2001.

Please visit her website at www.witchfromthesea.com

Contact Lisa at lisajensen@sbcglobal.net

The Unionist: Book Review

Reviewed by Mark H. Kelly
This article first appeared in the Morgan County Citizen, October 31, 2002

Every historical event has an inside angle or issue that isn’t recognized for its impact on individuals or communities. When the subject of the American Civil War is introduced into discussion, most people focus on the major battles and historical figures.

Perry, Georgia attorney W. Steven Harrell has reached into our nation’s and state’s past with the non-fiction work The Unionist, implementing pain-staking research to resurrect the life and Civil War adventures of Lt. David R. Snelling.

The literary angle readers will immediately be captured by the Milledgeville native’s decision to break against the tide of Southern History and emotions, joining the First Alabama Union Cavalry Regiment.

More than a retelling of battles and actions of historical figures, The Unionist provides readers with an accurate description of plantation life in Milledgeville in the days leading up to the conflict, along with the backroom legislative activities of fire-eaters Robert Toombs, Alexander Stephens and many others.

However, where the book excels is on the home and battles fronts. Snelling’s decisions (as one can imagine) cost him dearly on personal and professional levels, profoundly presenting issues of the era to light.

Once the war begins for Lt. Snelling, Harrell’s skills as a writer jump into the saddle at full gallop with depiction of troop movements and battle capturing readers’ attention. Indeed, smoke often wafts from the pages and bullets zing through the air as soldiers from both sides fall and move from tree to boulder to streambed in search of cover.

There are equally compelling stories of soldier camaraderie, interaction with citizens and the forming of bonds lasting Snelling’s lifetime. Snelling’s adventure takes him to Stones River, Abel Streight’s Raid, Dallas, Monroe’s Cross Roads and Atlanta to Durham Station during Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Civil War and history buffs will find the work engaging and can proudly place it in their collection.

Review of "Treason & Triumph"

Reviewed by Rita Gerlach

At the onset of a war that would leave Europe devastated and the Jewish people raked by the Holocaust of Hate, two women from vastly different worlds, become embroiled in Churchill's plan to thwart the Nazis' plan to produce the first atomic bomb. Trapped in a switch of identity, both women must rely on the traitor to save them.

Treason and Triumph opens with the Spanish Civil War and takes the reader into the nerve center of the Third Reich. It is the late 1930's. Hitler's agenda spreads through Germany like a vile poison. His war machine rages through Europe, bringing insurmountable suffering and destruction, especially to the Jewish people. American journalist, Marla Franklin is sent to cover the war for the London Times. Lady Catherine Rushmore, cousin to Britain's king, is a talented concert pianist forging her way into the heart of England's cultural elite as a talented concert pianist, when she is given an assignment to serve her king and country.

Marla and Catherine are identical in appearance and are recruited into Churchill's Project Amanita. The mission is to penetrate into the heart of the Nazi leadership and carry out a plan of espionage. With patriotic fervor, and unswerving bravery, the two women vow to sacrifice their very lives in order to fulfill their mission along with the Amanita Team.

In the beginning of the story, it is not known that one person on that team is a traitor and spy, a Nazi desirous to see the Nazis win the war and rule the world. As events unfold, suspicions rise. The story continues on a tense pace to discover who the traitor is.

TREASONS & TRIUMPH is a suspenseful World War II thriller. From start start to finish Treason & Triumph is fast paced. Bonnie Toews' novel is not just an entertaining thriller. It is novel that transports the reader into the horrors of World War II. It is vivid in imagery and not for the light hearted reader. Her novel demonstrates a writing skill that all writers should strive for: the ability to tell a story that is real to the reader, and give the reader a greater sense of the duty of mankind. Treason & Triumph shows good and evil, the moral and the immoral. The reader will discover that with there is no greater love than for a man, or woman, to lay his or her life down for a friend. Marla and Catherine are willing to sacrifice their lives in order to save the lives of millions. Treason & Triumph is a compelling story of sacrifice in a time when morals and honor were something of value, challenged by the immorality of Nazi brutality. I highly recommend this book, especially to readers who enjoying stories of WWII. Bonnie Toews knows how to draw a reader in and keep you turning the pages.

Reviewer's bio: Rita Gerlach is the author The Rebel's Pledge, a romantic historical novel of Colonial times. She writes with an inspirational mindset. She has written several articles for The Christian Communicator Magazine, and is preparing to publish a historical series set prior to the American Revolution.