Reviewed by Emma Crowley
A faded letter. A mother lost. A daughter found...
When journalist Jessie Daly loses everything she holds dear, she travels home to Ireland's west coast, and helps an old friend researching life during the famine. Jessie becomes drawn into the heartbreaking story of a brave young mother, Bridget Moloney, and her daughter, Norah.
On the other side of the ocean, in Boston, Kaitlin Wilson is researching her family tree. She unearths a fascinating story, but her research forces her to confront uncomfortable truths about the past, as she uncovers an unexpected connection to Ireland in famine times.
Generations before, in the small town of Boherbreen, a young mother faced a heart-wrenching choice: to watch her baby girl perish with hunger, or to start out for a new life in America, alone, in order to protect the one she loves most...
Many thanks to Hachette Ireland for my copy of The Letter Home to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Rachael English has once again written another beautiful and heart wrenching book that slowly lures you in and holds you in its thrall until the very last page. The Letter Home shines a light on one of the most turbulent, difficult and impactful times in Ireland’s history, that period being the time of The Great Famine in the late 1840’s. The last time I read a book that focused on the famine was way back in my childhood when Marita Conlon McKenna’s book, Under the Hawthorn Tree, was published. Still to this day that book is studied in schools and it’s one many Irish children remember reading and learning so much from. I read lots of historical fiction, mostly centred around World War Two, so it was refreshing to read more of my own country’s history. How so many people were forced to immigrate due to blight destroying the main food source of potatoes resulting in a dreadful famine. The legacy of those bitter, hard and challenging years were felt for a very long time. Immigration still occurs today but for many different reasons as opposed to what faced those poor souls facing the difficult decision to leave during the Famine.
The Letter Home is an extremely well-written book and brought together the threads of the past and established connections with the present and showing how in the modern day challenges relating to immigartion are still faced. My eyes were once again opened to what occurred during the famine and given it was so long ago, we tend to forget although not intentionally by any means, what our ancestors endured. This story really made me want to go back and research more about the Famine and how it perhaps affected people in my area. The book was impeccably researched but yet it never came across as if I was reading a history book. The human, emotional side shone through combined with historical fact. The three strands of the story were seamlessly woven together and this made for a fascinating read. At times some of the scenes set during the Famine were very difficult to read about without a tear forming in your eye but all the details needed to be there to really make you connect and feel for the main character, Bridget. It makes you appreciate what you have today and how we have come so far from those dark days.
In the present day, Jessie Daly’s life has imploded following an unfortunate appearance on a primetime national television programme. She is faced with no other choice than to return to her home village of Clooneven in Co.Clare. She needs to lick her wounds and come to terms with what has happened. Her career is in tatters and her family aren’t all that impressed with having to bail her out. Her parents, although supportive, you can sense their disbelief and shame at what has unfolded and her sister Lorna now sees an opportunity for Jessie to pay off her debts by working in her café. Lorna seems to have the perfect life which Jessie is very much envious of but perhaps all is not as it seems. I loved the slow unwinding of Lorna’s story and how it realistically and cleverly connected to the overall themes being explored in the book. Jessie will soon learn that life may appear golden on the outside for Lorna but deep down we are all struggling with our own battles. Is she willing to lift the lid given her thirst for a good story as a journalist at the risk of further upsetting already unstable family dynamics?
To be honest, I didn’t feel a huge amount of sympathy for Jessie. I felt the situation she found herself in was very much of her own making. I didn’t really care what direction her life took but it’s when she meets local teacher Ger, whom was once a childhood friend, that the tangible links between the past and the present were established. Ger’s class are studying The Great Irish Famine and the story of what happened to one local woman sparks more than a little interest. So sets in motion, a journey for Jessie which I think allowed her to take her mind off her current situation. She finds herself delving back in time to when Clooneven was enduring the harshest years anyone could remember. She begins to uncover an incredible story whilst researching her family tree and in doing so it will make her face up to some harsh truths. Maybe the lessons she learns from the past will help her reconcile the events ongoing in the present and in some small way stop the same thing reoccurring right on her doorstep?
Without doubt, the strongest parts of the book were the chapters which focused on Bridget Markham. I felt deeply transported back in time to an Ireland so vastly different from the one I live in today. The poverty was widespread, and people lived in little more than hovels and were forced to pay astronomical amounts of rents to absentee landlords who lived in England. Bridget is the stand out character of this book. She suffers so much with one devastating loss after another. You can feel the hunger and weakness emanating from her as for several years the potato crop which families rely so heavily on fails. Poverty, disease, filth and hardship are evident on every page but Bridget is someone who battles for survival and I really didn’t know here she drew strength from given trauma after trauma befall her and her family. I loved all the minute detail regarding Bridget and her family as they battled to survive each day. This detail all added to the feeling of destitution and how so many were clinging to any small shred of hope that they could weather the storm they found themselves in. I still can’t comprehend that people were forced to live outside if evicted from their homes and had no choice but to eat grass. The workhouse was but a last option and given was such a remarkable and powerful person she did everything to stop this happening.
We follow Bridget for a number of years and her family situation gradually deteriorates. Her mother, brother and husband all die and she is left with her baby daughter Norah. Bridget is fierce in her love and will do anything to protect her daughter. She literally has nothing and food is non existent but her honesty, intelligence and selflessness shone through from every page. I was so glad she was given such a strong voice throughout the book it was like she was speaking for all those who died during the Famine and reminding us never to forget and not to allow the same thing to happen again. Bridget’s story took on many twists and turns. Literally everything was thrown at her and I found it wore me down and made me feel great anguish and upset for her because with each turn of the page I never knew what she would face. It was like a constant uphill battle.
When Bridget makes the ultimate sacrifice her love radiates off the page and your admiration for her grows. The significance of the letter mentioned in the title comes into play here and also more so towards the end of the book but it was wonderfully executed. So poignant and memorable and heart-breaking. I found the sections of the book set during Bridget’s time in America really fascinating. The journey on the coffin ship, the hardships faced when she arrived when all had thought America would welcome everyone with open arms after all it was the land of rich and plenty. I loved how the author laid out little clues planted in chapters focusing on America from Bridget’s perspective to tie things back to the present. I didn’t fully join the dots until the end and that’s the what a good book should be. But I will say the inclusion of family trees really did help things because given we were dealing with a vast time period and several generations I was becoming confused and needed this clarification.
Kaitlin, living in Boston in the present, is the third woman who binds the strands of the story together and for the majority of her story I was wondering why was she there. She came across as just being very down and not in a good place and I hate saying this but she always seemed to be moaning and groaning. Yes, her personal circumstances are heart-breaking to read about but I found myself much more drawn to Bridget and Jessie. I understand the necessity for her inclusion but in all honesty she didn’t make the most impact on me and she wasn’t the most memorable character.
The Letter Home is a haunting and absorbing read detailing a story of poverty and emigration and the connections between the past and the present are cleverly established. This book gives you plenty of food for thought and despite the themes being dark and difficult to comprehend Bridget’s tale although full of misery, neglect and death has moments of pure hope and sunshine. I thoroughly enjoyed how the story came full circle. It’s a beautifully crafted story which will stay with me for a long time.
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