Out of Ireland
1935 St. Louis is the setting for a brief prologue in which family matriarch Eileen lies dying, but the story turns quickly to 1867 Cork, Ireland, and to Eileen as a girl. Dreaming of becoming a teacher, sixteen-year-old Eileen loves the books she borrows from her employer’s library at the manor house. Her mother and older brother Martin have other ideas, however, and Eileen is sold in marriage to a middle-aged alcoholic farmer, John Sullivan. She is miserable with her life until she delivers a beautiful son; the child lifts her spirits and improves her husband’s behavior, although he remains unloved by Eileen. Meanwhile, her favorite brother Michael, member of the Irish Republican Brotherhood fighting for Irish independence, falls afoul of dangerous local leader John MacDonogh. Michael flees to London and then America, where he falls in with a St. Louis gangster and IRB sympathizer, one who promises to fund the cause. After a threatening visit from MacDonogh looking for Michael, Eileen persuades Sullivan to follow Michael and emigrate to America.
The section of the novel describing their ocean passage in steerage and a heartbreaking event is well-researched and written with great skill. Eventually settling in St. Louis, Eileen’s and Michael’s stories conclude with soft focus on fairytale love matches (including one sex scene that should have been edited for cliche). Many secondary characters are introduced and discarded, but a focus on the inner lives and struggles of the core characters up to the conclusion would have produced a richer novel. Irish language-speaking is indicated only rarely, but Cork was Irish-speaking in the 19th century, English the exception, its use reserved for authorities. Unfortunately, the dialogue sometimes falls into a stage version of Irish English. Still, many readers, especially Americans of Irish descent, will enjoy this often-rewarding novel.
