Leaving Ireland [Paperback]

Ann Moore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2002

Many readers have already met, and embraced, Gracelin O'Malley. In this novel, they will follow her across the ocean to a new world....Hopeful for a better life for herself and her young daughter, Grace leaves behind her beloved Irish homeland and sails for America. But even as she tries to find her place in her new home, she cannot outrun the haunting choices of her past. Her infant son, too sick to make the crossing, remains in Ireland, and as the months pass, Grace becomes desperate for news. As she struggles to adapt to Manhattan and the harsh reality of immigrant life, she reunites with a man she once misjudged. With his help, Grace finds the courage to take a stand against the corruption and injustice around her-but her brave actions threaten the very people she swore to protect.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Yes, Gracelin O'Malley is another plucky Irish girl headed to America for a better life, but this gripping second volume of her story (the sequel to Gracelin O'Malley) is densely packed with unwhitewashed historical facts unusual in the romance genre. Having lost her husband and shot a British policeman, Grace flees Ireland in 1849 at age 20. She leaves a newborn son with her father in County Cork and takes her daughter to Liverpool, where she narrowly avoids the slums that destroy the lives of many immigrants. She then makes the difficult transatlantic voyage with her daughter, where dozens of adults and children die in filthy steerage. The New York she reaches is ugly, crowded, unsanitary and crime ridden. Moore creates a colorful, if familiar, tableau of German butchers, Italian laborers, runaway slaves, Jewish peddlers and, at the bottom of the heap, the Irish dockworkers, bootblacks and others that Grace meets at her job in a Manhattan saloon. As she struggles to make a home for herself in the tenements, she becomes involved in abolitionist and politically progressive circles, fighting anti-Irish prejudice. A few stock villains make an appearance (such as a callous ship's doctor) as do figures like Herman Melville, Edgar Allan Poe, Mathew Brady and even Joseph Smith. Moore also follows the fate of Grace's family in County Cork and the Irish political upheavals of the era. The relentless drama of Grace's fight to survive, as well as the rich contextual details, make Moore's sophomore effort as absorbing and accomplished as her first.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In the second installment in a historical trilogy that began with Gracelin O'Malley (2001), Moore's heroine, Gracelin, now wanted for murder in Ireland, is forced to leave her newborn son in the care of her father and sister-in-law, making the harrowing ocean crossing with her young daughter to join her brother, Sean, in New York. There she finds Sean deep into the politics of exile and busy raising money and arms for the fledgling Irish army. Although aware that she's lucky to find sanctuary in America, Gracelin is weary with the pain of abandoning her child, the death of her husband, and the destruction of her homeland. Resilient to the core, however, she perseveres, helping herself and others as Moore blends romance and adventure with memorable accounts of the brutal occupation of Ireland, the harsh reality of New York tenement life, and the comfort of family. Strong and likable characters and a well-paced story will make readers look forward to Gracelin's next appearance. Neal Wyatt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade (November 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451207076
• ISBN-13: 978-0451207074
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #142,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gracelin O'Malley Saga Continues With An Uplifting Tale of Irish Immigration, September 5, 2005

By 

Antoinette Klein (Hoover, Alabama USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leaving Ireland (Paperback)

Gracelin O'Malley, the spirited young woman readers first met in the novel bearing her name, continues to amaze in this second of a three-part saga. If readers are looking for a role model, one who shows you how to triumph against all odds, one who shows you how to live your life with love and tenderness, look no further than this heroine with a remarkable and unflagging spirit. Not only are we as readers first-hand witnesses as she seeks a better life for herself and fellow Irishmen, but we are also treated to a great novel about the power of a mother's love.

Gracelin, when last we met her, was forced to leave Ireland after her beloved husband Morgan was reported dead, she killed an English officer, and her son was too sickly to travel with her. With her daughter Mary Kate, she endured countless atrocities on board a ship bound for New York. Never caving in to the depression and hopeless feelings of many, Gracelin arrives and finds life in America not exactly what she had envisioned. If ever someone made lemons out of lemonade, then surely that someone was Gracelin as she seeks to make a better life for herself, her daughter, and her beloved brother.

Her adventures make for excellent reading---whether she is helping a former slave reunite with her children, protecting an orphan she comes to love as her own, or succumbing to the reality of losing her son, Ann Moore has given us as fine an adventure, romance, and overall ripping good read as any imaginable.

This is the story of Gracelin, but also the story of a young America opening its arms but not always its heart to the immigrants who came. You'll understand why they kissed the ground on arrival, and fought discrimination with every fiber of their being to make this country their home and a haven for their children.

If you love romance and adventure, come follow the story of Gracelin, from her pits of despair to her glorious dance in the sunshine at novel's end.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome saga!, April 14, 2004

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Leaving Ireland (Paperback)

I have read Gracelin O'Malley and just fell in love with Moore's book ~~ and this book is just as good if not better than her first novel. This time, Gracelin manages to escape Ireland during the famine and the fever was raging through the countryside when Julia Martin takes Gracelin to Liverpool to take her to the ship that will take her to America to join Sean, her brother. This is just the beginning of the stories of Barbara, Morgan's sister who turned nun, of Julia who is taking care of Gracelin's son, of Liam Kelley who lost his mother and sister on the ship crossing, of Sean, Gracelin's brother ~~ and so forth. Gracelin, now known as Grace, is more mature in this novel and more responsible but not any less gracious or loving. She's truly an inspiration for all strong women who have to survive hardships!

After finishing this book ~~ I cannot wait for the third one to come out! This author will probably be my bookclub's favorite author so far ~~ which is thrilling because Moore writes beautifully and wonderfully about Ireland and the Irish.

This is highly recommended reading ~~ if you like historical fiction, you will love this. If you like reading about the Irish, this book is for you. It's beautifully written ~~ poetical in some places and the story is enthralling where it takes you on journeys you've never dreamed of. This book is also full of hope and dreams ~~ more than Gracelin O'Malley was. It's also a keeper.

4-14-04

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A triumph of the human spirit!, November 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Leaving Ireland (Paperback)

If you loved Gracelin O'Malley, then Leaving Ireland is a must-read! Fleeing an Ireland full of pain and suffering, tragedy and broken dreams, Grace journeys across the Atlantic to build a new life in America. The plot is action-packed from the start and, in my opinion, much more uplifting overall than the first book. Familiar faces return and new friends and nemesis are made along the way as Grace continues her struggle for survival and her fight for a better life in a new world. Through it all, Grace perseveres with courage, dignity, unwavering faith, an indomitable spirit, and a heart of gold (thank you Ann Moore for creating such an inspirational character!). Although Leaving Ireland is a wonderful novel in itself, I recommend reading Gracelin O'Malley first. You'll find your enjoyment of the story even greater having met the characters before. Grace seems to be on the road to happiness and I eagerly await the third installment of her story!