A haunting novel that weaves together its narrator's dreams, Irish legend, and the pivotal events of the American Civil War, The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan portrays a family of Irish immigrants struggling to find its identity in the new world, and a nation struggling to be born anew out of the carnage of war. Mairhe Mehan is sixteen, a resident of Swampoodle, Washington D.C.'s Irish slum. Here brother Mike, a laborer building the new dome of the U.S. Capitol, suddenly enlists as a volunteer in the Union Army, leaving Mairhe with her father, an ailing old man whose heart is in the Ireland he has left behind. Terrified for her brother's life and alone in a Washington filled with the fighting's chaotic overflow, Mairhe confronts her own choice between Ireland and America s the Civil War heads toward its defining moment at the Battle of Gettysburg.With several ALA Notable Books to her credit, Jennifer Armstrong is an author with a fast-growing reputation. Her strongest and most profound work to date, The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan is a novel of great thematic breadth and memorable emotional impact.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
In a challenging new novel, Jennifer Armstrong reveals the heart of a young woman in the midst of the U.S. Civil War. Protagonist Mairhe Mehan is an Irish immigrant trying to piece together the fragments of her family's life in war-torn Washington, D.C. A quiet man with a mane of flowing white hair helps her understand the dreams that fuel battle and pain. (Later, she learns that this man is the poet Walt Whitman.) Truly, this is historical fiction in a most uncommon sense. Armstrong's writing is so vivid, so heartfelt, that the turmoil of the Civil War rises again in the pages of this slim, eloquent book.
From Publishers Weekly
Exploring an aspect of the immigrant experience, Armstrong's (Black-Eyed Susan) finely wrought historical novel also captures a powerful measure of the magnitude and depth of the pain caused by the Civil War. Mairhe Mehan and her father live among fellow Irish immigrants in a Washington, D.C., slum. She works in an alehouse and crochets lace for 10 cents a yard, and she narrates her heartbreaking but finally hopeful story with simple grace and power. Her dreams at night, reflecting her fears and aspirations, mingle with the realities of her life?her father's mental breakdown, her brother's enlistment in the Union Army?conveying not just the facts but the "fuller" truth. As Mairhe says: "So history is to be found in the heart and memory and imagination, not in the photographer's glass plate or the journalist's wired message to the editor. So these dreams are true, I tell you, as true as anything else." Her chance meetings with an unknown poet of the time, Walt Whitman, though on the surface improbable, are convincingly portrayed?almost as a connection between two kindred souls. This novel is remarkable for its artistry and the lingering musicality of its language. Ages 11-14.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a young irish girl has to face reality after the civil war.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan (Hardcover)
The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan, is a haunting and gripping tale of a young irish girl trying to face realliy after the civil war.Mairhe Mehan has recently come from Ireland with her brother, and father when the war comes her brothe goes off to fight, leaving mairhe and her father to themselves, when mairhe's father loses his mind, she tries despretly to get her brother back. the army will let him be released for a large price. stuck with the delema of how to earn so much money, Mairhe dicideds to knit lace. But as always things don't come out as the should, and Mairhe has to find somthing to do with her father, and herself. Jennifer Armstrong's play on words and dramatic style make The dreams of Mairhe Mehan a chilling glimps in to this young girl's troubled life.
3.0 out of 5 stars
a miss print review,
By
This review is from: The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan (Mass Market Paperback)
The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan: A Novel of the Civil War by Jennifer Armstrong (1996)
This book has been in my house begging to be read since 2004. With seven years of build up maybe it's not a surprise that this book did not leave me dazzled. Maybe that was the only possible outcome. The story is interesting but from the outset the book had a lot working against it including a plain cover (mine has a white background with black text and . . . nothing else) and some difficult pronunciation ("Mairhe" is pronounced "Moira" and is the Irish form of "Mary" all of which I thought was made clear in the novel but someone didn't because there is a note at the start of the book explaining all of that--which makes the whole thing feel intimidating). At 128 pages (hardcover) I hesitate to explain much of the plot but I will say this: Armstrong does a great job if you look at this as a slice-of-life novel. Although I liked Mairhe as a heroine the entire story hinged on a character being likable and I just didn't like him very much. It happens. Her descriptions of the Civil War battles and Washington of the time are stunning and evocative in a way few writers ever manage. The writing here is lyrical and immediately brings to mind an Irish brogue which adds to the dream-like quality of the entire book. If anyone can even find this book anymore (NYPL no longer has it) I'd recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, who is interested in the Civil War, or wants a book about the immigrant experience as much of the plot hinges on what it means to be American (or Irish) in an era when America was still figuring out its identity as a country.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful book,
By Ashareh (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan (Hardcover)
_The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan_ is a haunting and lyrical book about Mairhe Mehan, a young Irish girl living in the slums of Washington DC during the Civil War. Mairhe's family has been separated; her brother is off to fight for the Union, and her father pines for his native Ireland as his mental capacity deteriorates. The story is told through Mairhe's dreams, a poetic mix of Irish lore and the stark(but somehow dreamy) reality of the war.
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