Of Irish Blood: A Novel

For those who know nothing about Irish history and politics, this book is a good primer. For those who are Chicago-Irish, this book is nostalgic. For those who want an initiation into WW1 as seen from the viewpoint of Parisians, this book is somewhat educational.However, I found myself wondering if the author made a list of "anybody who was somebody." and then introduced each person into the narrative, no matter how briefly.The protagonist is a Bridgeport (Chicago) Irish girl who flees an abusive relationship and meets more cultural icons than is probable. The cast of characters ranges from Chanel to Gertrude Stein to Michael Collins to Eamon de Valera to Matisse to Steichen...I kept wondering when, in the post-WW1 era, the Lost Generation would show up...and they did--James and Nora Joyce, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway--all at the same party. Also, were some errors intentional or poor editing? Louis XIV was NOT guillotined. And, last I checked, the Aran Islands were not in Scotland.

It is true the writer knows her Irish history, but it became overwhelming in how while it affected the leads world, I found it pushed aside elements of her life that made her interesting to me. Great, she was able to sketch dresses! I thought that was where she was going, but no...she is wrapped up in a kind of who's who of French and Irish real characters and it is the events of history that become the books story, and really she became pretty much a flat character that was just there to name names, and not even really delve into the other characters lives enough to feel like I was reading anything more then a bunch of "history" done in such a grocery store list way, I not only didn't care, but it was the same thing over and over again.I was more intrigued about why the short chapter that changed her life direction and the books END was more interesting then the many chapters I read before. Hoping with hope that the promise of a great personal story was going to happen, only now it ends with like a huge advertisement of what has to be her follow up book...only I am not willing I think to spend that much money to only get the promise of what could have been a great book! The writer more then has the talent to tell it...that is the only reason I kept on reading, even though I wanted to skip over huge sections.And let it be known here and now I was a history minor in college. I LOVE history, and I especially love it when it is used in conjunction with a real juicy character to weave one hell of a story that I can feel deep in my soul. This book I feel was only a promise of that. And granted, often today we are lucky if we even get that promise. To give an example, I am a huge patricia cornfield fan, love her Kay Scarpetti character because we really got to know her almost from her very bones to her job intimately, and even though she is involved in very strong story details, she hasn't had a true fan fave book now for quite sometime! You only have to read her Amazon reviews to see the disappointment from her fans.Well, in this case I think the writer gave the promise of a character that could sustain a whole series of books, but alas she over told the dry side to the point that she sucked what little life she gave her in order to show off what had to have been at least a year of history research!!! That does not in a book make! (Unless you just forget the fiction entirely and give us instead a really colorful and historical book about a real person that lived said history.)I liked it, but would not really recommend it, which makes me sad because I think the writer has the promise to deliver the right book.

I thought I was going to like this book but the more I read, the more I realized it's almost three books in one. Almost… but not quite. "Book one" is the story of clever, feisty Honora (Nora) Kelly making a life for herself in Chicago in the early 1900s. She is happily single and gainfully employed doing work she loves. But then she falls for an initially charming but ultimately cruel man who, after 8 years, tries to kill her when she threatens to break off their relationship. With help from the man's wife (really?) Nora runs off to Paris and makes a new life for herself. "Book two" is Nora's life in Paris, working as a designer (really copying others' designs) for a couturier, giving tours of Paris to visiting Americans, and learning the new art of photographry. She meets members of the Irish community in France and begins to learn more and become more involved with the burgeoning plans for Irish independence. She also volunteers as a nurse during World War I, giving her many opportunities to meet "famous" people. As others have noted, all throughout the book, Nora meets just about everyone who was alive and had reason to be in France at the time. Some of the people actually were there at that time and others were not (Helen Keller didn't make her first trip abroad until much later) but this isn't a biography, so that didn't really bother me. What did bother me is that most of the people have nothing to contribute to the novel. "Book three" is given the least attention. It details Nora's involvement with the makers of the new nation of Ireland - Michael Collins, Maud Gonne, Countess Constance Markievicz, Eamon De Valera, etc. But after 600+ pages, just as things are getting interesting in Ireland, Nora packs up and heads back to America. (Even though she has let her family there think she is dead and she's expressed fear all along that her former lover will still want to kill her.) The novel wraps up in a disappointing last 20 pages. I wish the author's editor had taken a firmer hand with her and either cut out a lot that did nothing to move the story along or suggested the text be made into more than one book. I love books about Ireland, but I don't think I'll read more by her.

A terrible disappointment! Galway Bay was one of the best books I ever read, but Of Irish Blood seems to have been written by another author. The narrative is rambling and confusing and often impossible to follow. Every historical character possible intersects with this woman's life which is contrived and unbelievable. I re-read the first half of the novel trying to follow it better but that did not help either. I so looked forward to reading this novel and was disappointed in every way.

Sorry I did not like it very much

Nachdem ich den ersten Band "Galway Bay" schon phantastisch,anrührend und auch informativ fand, habe ich nun den Folgeband gelesen. Ein wirkliches Kunstwerk! Mary Pat Kelly versteht es, ein persönliches Schicksal in eine spannungsreiche Geschichte mit historischer Realität einzubetten. Jemand,der die irische Geschichte kennt und /oder dieses Land liebt,wird das Buch schätzen. Es ist keine seichte Unterhaltung .