vodkafan Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Star Of The Sea Joseph O'Connor This turned out to be not only a good choice for this genre, as it taught me a lot of history, but also a cracking story. It is 1847 during the potato famine and a ship (the Star Of The Sea of the title)is setting sail to America overloaded with starving Irish refugees, plus a few 1st class passengers. The journey will last 26 days and many will die on the way from sickness and starvation. The story focuses on three main Irish protagonists, all on the ship whose past lives are linked: Lord Merridith an Anglo-Irish landowner, his maid Mary Duane and Pius Mulvey a low criminal. The story is told both directly and indirectly in various ways: the captains notes in his log; letters (found later) and allegorical stories and articles from an American writer who is on board. From the blurb on the back of the book I assumed that it would all be about what went on during the journey; in fact most of the book deals with past life events. We get to know the three characters very well. There are plenty of twists and unexpected revelations that keep everything interesting and the book sails along at a fair pace. As I was reading I was interested in the history and googled the Irish potato famine; this must have been an awful thing to live through, and could have been almost entirely prevented, if only the British government of the time had considered the catholic Irish to be human beings. I liked the way the author tried to show that not all the Anglo-Irish landowners were bad; everybody was being squeezed by forces bigger than themselves. Edited September 24, 2012 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peahen Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 I read this book and agree with your review. I enjoyed how the story is presented in different formats such as the captain logs and diary and letter excerpts. I did very much enjoy the book and the story, and the cliffhanger at the end of each chapter or section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Izabela Posted March 24, 2013 Share Posted March 24, 2013 It took me a while to get into the language of the book, but once I got past it I couldn't put it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted March 28, 2013 Author Share Posted March 28, 2013 (edited) It took me a while to get into the language of the book, but once I got past it I couldn't put it down. Hi Izabela welcome ! It's one of those books I can't quite get out of my mind since reading it. Not so much the story but the horror of the famine itself. One of those bits of history we were never taught and everybody would just like to gloss over. Edited March 28, 2013 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsmeagain Posted March 28, 2013 Share Posted March 28, 2013 Typifies the way English history was taught in schools in the 1970s when I was at school Vodkafan. No mention of the famine, the so called troubles etc....we can all have our theories as to why, and I think it comes down to politics and the fact there was a kind of war in N Ireland at the time. Thanks for the headsup on the book V. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.