The Life We Remember: Between Worlds
Set against the harrowing backdrop of famine and poverty in 1848, this novel tells the story of a German woman and an Irish man who leave their home villages and travel to America. Mina follows her gambling, abusive, and alcoholic husband as he flees their hometown in Württemberg. Simultaneously, Davin, a carpenter from County Clare, must leave to find work to help save his parents because no one can hire him anymore as the Irish potato famine rages. Each sets off in dire straits, crossing paths with many other desperate people also trying to flee. Mina’s husband and Davin both contract themselves out as redemptioners, people who promise to work for a specified number of years for American companies hiring foreign laborers in exchange for passage fares and then room and board.
The journey is the crux of this story which alternates chapters between Mina and Davin. After trudging many miles in bitter winter weather and witnessing much tragedy along the way, both arrive eventually in Liverpool, England to make the trip across the Atlantic. Wedged in steerage, both survive horrendous living conditions for many weeks before arrival in New York, followed by further travel to reach their final destination of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Along the way, they fall in love despite their wretched circumstances.
While the tone of the book feels somber due to the hardships experienced by the immigrants, there are also small moments of happiness and joy for them. Both Mina and Davin, who are kind people themselves, meet other kind people along their journeys who make their lives better if only briefly. Recommended for anyone interested in imagining how life might have been experienced by vast numbers of people travelling to America in the mid-19th century.
