Irish Eyes (The American Songbook)
In her impressive saga, the first volume in the new American Songbook series, Hope Tarr takes us from an island off the coast of Ireland to New York City and back, over the course of 24 years, from 1898 to 1922. We follow the story of Rose O’Neill, a barmaid at her father’s pub, as she meets Adam Blakely, a World War I veteran from America who has traveled to Ireland to honor a promise to a fellow soldier. Though Rose is poor and Irish Catholic and Adam is wealthy and Protestant, they fall in love, ignoring their differences, and pledge to marry. Soon Adam is called back to his family in Manhattan. Rose plans to follow shortly. She sails to New York, but correspondence between the lovers is intercepted, and their paths diverge, at least for a while. We follow the couple’s adventures and tragedies through the first quarter of the 20th century as they confront political strife, two wars, the criminal court system, Spanish Flu, the women’s suffrage movement, and such technological developments as refrigeration and electrification.
Readers will race to the end, not wanting to put this book down. Tarr writes beautifully, with great pacing, settings, sensitive love scenes, plot twists, just the right amount of period-specific language, and a superb epilogue. She tells the story through Rose’s point of view, alternating with Adam’s. At times the point of view darts around, as Rose’s thoughts peek through Adam’s narration, and Rose’s success as the owner of a department store could use elaboration, but nothing will mar readers’ connection to Rose, a compelling character. The American Songbook series is off to a great start. Highly recommended.
