Customer Reviews

An Irishwoman's Tale

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There is something quite fascinating about Ireland. I've read some historical stories about this grand country. So I eagerly began to read this Irish woman's tale of trying to find herself. Who is she, this woman named Mary Elizabeth? Why did her real mother send her away, why was her adoptive mother cold towards her.

I was spell bound as I read through 300 plus pages until Mary Elizabeth, her friend Sally, and I found closure. And Mary Elizabeth learned that God was with her, all those years.

I especially like to read about relationships between parents and children. Patti Lacy's writing held me spell bound throughout the story. I highly recommend An Irishwoman's Tale.

I'm not usually one to pick up a women's fiction novel, but this one grabbed my attention from the first page and held it to the last. The story of Mary's struggle to accept herself and her past, her search for true friendship and understanding, and her battle against her own inner demons make it impossible to put the book down. The Irish setting is really vibrant and beautiful, and the characters will stick with you even after you've closed the book.

Be prepared with plenty of reading time before you pick up An Irishwoman's Tale and open it to the first page. Patti Lacy has a character you will immediately grow to love, Mary, the Irishwoman. Lacy takes you step by step through this woman's struggle to understand and come to terms with her past from growing up in the Chicago area to her roots in Ireland. An excellent read--the kind of quality writing that makes you want more. And, as Dennis Hensley says on the backcover, "Solid storytelling."

In this stunning debut novel, we meet Mary Freeman, a nurturing woman who wants to take care of her family and have a bit of peace in her life. But caring for her ailing mother is wearing on her, as is her concern for her youngest daughter. When Mary prays for a friend, she never expects God to answer so quickly... or with such a unique woman.

An Irishwoman's Tale is two stories in one: the tragic heartbreak of young girl who endures one rejection after the other, and a beautiful, healing friendship between two very different women. Like the threads that make up fine Irish linen, Lacy weaves Mary's story, combining the past with the present, until both converge and take Mary back to where it all started.

Lacy's lyrical writing style is perfect for this tale which takes us from Ireland to America and back again. Get ready to settle in with this one, because once you start, you're not going to want to put it down.

"An Irishwoman's Tale" is not only a novel for the Irish, but for anyone who longs to heal from the oppressive tragedy of rejection. It is for the wayward daughter shackled in prison, as well as for the prestigious businesswoman throttled by invisible white knuckles from the past.

Basing her novel on a true story along with careful research, Patti Lacy has interwoven colorful details and patterns of speech in a way that transports the reader to the pastoral countryside of Ireland. Perhaps more importantly, she has plumbed the depths of honesty, courageously scraping the barrel, while simultaneously offering bright hope to those whose lives are compounded by seemingly hopeless circumstances.

Patti is a masterful writer whose style is a unique combination of succinct dialogue (as in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby"), cutting-edge literature (as in Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle"), and lyrical descriptions (as in Willa Cather's "My Antonia"). Altogether, her tale aims to enlighten, heal, and restore. Her writing has addicted me as the voice of a newfound friend I'd despair to live without.

Patti Lacy has demonstrated what a wonderful storyteller she is in An Irishwoman's Tale. I spent two days completely absorbed in Patti's masterful and poetic descriptions of both geographic locations and character emotions. It wasn't light reading, yet it was never depressing either. Although this is a fictionalized account of a true story,Mary Elizabeth O'Brian's journey from a dysfunctional childhood to finding authentic inner peace as an adult is not an uncommon story for many women. The story offers hope to those who have walked in shoes similar to Mary's and are still searching for that peace. If you belong to a book group, I highly recommend this for your next selection. Patti includes some great discussion questions at the end.

I loved, loved this book. The fact that An Irishwoman's Tale is based on a true story and told so well as fiction makes the story that much more compelling. Lacy did a wonderful job weaving the true story she knows so well into this fictional tale and its message of redemption is one readers won't soon forget. It will live on in your head for weeks to come, whispering the truths of forgiveness and grace.

This is a tale that spans the generations in the story of one woman. Though many Irishwomen have crossed the Atlantic to America over the centuries, surely Mary's tale is one of the more dramatic. At the age of five she is sent away from her family and homeland, and struggles to come to grips with new foster parents in an entirely alien culture. Not an easy matter for a hot-headed Irish lass.

The book follows her growing-up, her adult life, her successes and her many painful challenges, until one day a caring friend coaxes the story out of her. Opening up like this sets off a chain of events that will lead them both back to Ireland, a glorious and terrible journey of many revelations along the road in the search for real family. Encounters with hitherto unknown relatives hold a poignant emotion that will be familiar to many readers. Mary attempts to help her relatives, both real and adopted, with varying results as we know from real life.

I live in Ireland and I can surely tell you that the pulse of the land is in this book, this novel that isn't really fiction. I have felt my heart arise at descriptions of places I have seen with my own eyes. I have also felt the sadness at the truth in these pages that our homeland can be a harsh place oftentimes. Yes, there is cruelty, and rejection, and pain. But Patti has written in a vein of redemption and hope, so that we can see how Mary finally makes peace with her past and embraces her future.

This is a story of the heart that thoroughly entangled me in its web, breathless until I read the last page. It is more than a book - it is a work of reconciliation across the ocean, a tale of hope against the odds, and one woman's journey to victory in spite of all that life has thrown at her.

An Irishwoman's Tale is one of those books that pull you in from the first word and keep you mesmerized through to the last. Disturbing. Strangely fascinating. Brilliantly written, An Irishwoman's Tale will take you through a gauntlet of emotions: anger, disbelief, annoyance, impatience, tears, pain and joy.

Bewildered and frightened, Mary Elizabeth, at five years old, is sent away from her home and family on the cliffs of Ireland to live with a remote cousin in a Chicago suburb. Why didn't Mam want her? Why didn't her new mother love her? As Mary matures, marries and raises a family, what she remembers of her early childhood haunts her. Is she Irish? Are her memories reliable?

When Mary prays for a true friend, God sends her Sally, a transplanted Southern woman, and together, Mary and Sally delve into Mary's past, through unimaginable pain, until Mary discovers the truth, finds closure--and Redemption.

An Irishwoman's Tale puts the main character through every possible twist and turn a writer can invent to happen. As writers, we're told to 'up the stakes' -- just when it looks like a problem is about to be solved, yank the answers away, or throw another issue in there to stir the pot. Patti Lacy accomplishes this in aces!

The author weaves an amazing and emotionally engaging tale about a woman's quest to know her "people" from Ireland; to know her blood kin. She never really felt wanted, at least not since she was shipped to America and planted in another family with no explanation as to why she was sent away. I found her internal conflict to be totally believable, and the retelling of her life showed a slow progression of her developing faith that probably follows what most people experience who find Christ in their adult years. I was so drawn into the story and Mary's quest for answers that I kept picking this book up and when I wasn't able to read it I found myself thinking about the story. Well done.

"An Irishwoman's Tale" was a truly beautiful read for many reasons. I love it when I feel so drawn into a story that I am transported in my mind to a different place. I felt like I was Mary in the book as she relived the memories from her early years through adulthood. I especially loved when she got to the part where she was a wild child in college. What a great portrayal of that era and the lifestyle that went with it. It included very realistic dialogue and situations with men, etc. I loved the honesty in this story. I loved how Mary slowly began to allow people to get close enough for her to love them back. I loved how her early days as a new mother were portrayed. Very gripping and real. Wonderful stuff! I can't say enough good things about this book. At first I wasn't sure if I liked the set up of the story being told to another person, but it all wove together so well that I wouldn't change a thing. Fantastic debut novel!