The Irish Milliner
The Irish Milliner is the author’s third novel about protagonist Norah McCabe.
Set against the backdrop of the beginning of the Civil War, The Irish Milliner follows Norah as she struggles to set up her millinery business in Lower Manhattan. Now a widow, Norah must care for her young daughter, Katie, on her own. Norah has escaped Ireland, but Ireland has not let go of her. She has come to rely upon her childhood friend Sean, while a chance encounter with Edward Knox, heir to the famous Knox Hat Enterprise, leaves her realizing she longs for more than the Irish poverty that surrounds her.
Caught in the turmoil of trying to survive financially in New York City and befriending Elizabeth Jennings, a young black woman who supports the abolitionist cause as Norah does, her life becomes more complicated as the poor working-class Irish of Five Points see Norah as trying to better herself at their expense. When the draft riots erupt, both Sean and Edward disappear, leaving Norah to fend for herself. Determined and courageous, Norah McCabe is made from the strength of the Irish, as this novel so deftly shows.
I feel this book would appeal mostly to hat enthusiasts and those interested in details about Irish immigrants’ experience in New York City during the 1860s. While the story could have contained more conflict to sustain my interest, it glides along on a fairly even keel.
