In a compelling sequel to the highly praised The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan, Mairhe, who has now taken the name Mary, leaves Washington, D.C., to take a position as a domestic servant in upstate New York. The Civil War has ended. Mary's brother, Mike, has been killed at Gettysburg, her father has returned home to Ireland, and, after two years of nursing wounded and dying soldiers in the capital's hospitals, Mary is emotionally exhausted and physically defeated. But in her new life on the shores of Lake Ontario, Mary finds renewal and her senses gradually re-awaken. Each of the novel's five sections focuses on a different sense--as Mary learns to assist explorer and naturalist Jasper Dorsett in photographing birds, she begins to see things with a photographer's eye; as she falls in love with Dorsett's stable hand, a veteran left deaf by the war, she learns to describe the sounds she hears for him; and so forth, through the renewal of smell, taste, and touch. This challenging and poetic young adult novel concludes Mary's story with a mixture of sparkling language, thematic richness, and emotional depth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Imagine seeing colors and brightness again after years of blindness. That's how Jennifer Armstrong's new novel hits the reader--with a flash and a cavalcade of awakening senses. The last time we saw Mary Mehan, in The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan, she used the Irish spelling of her name and was busy nursing soldiers in the aftermath of the Civil War. Armstrong's sequel follows this strong protagonist up North, where she begins to work for an eccentric naturalist and his household--an arrangement made for her by the poet Walt Whitman. Tired, dreary, and emotionally closed after all of the pain and suffering she witnessed during the war, it takes a few miracles (and perhaps falling in love) for Mary to come out of her shell and face the world. Watching Mary awaken is sheer delight. Armstrong writes with a tender, thoughtful hand; she weaves metaphors skillfully, allowing her readers to be right inside Mary's heart as the world again takes on shape, color, and light.
From Publishers Weekly
The sequel to The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan follows a young Irish immigrant in the years after the Civil War, as she falls in love with a veteran, a former musician who cannot hear. Ages 14-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely story,
By Ashareh (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Mary Mehan Awake (Mass Market Paperback)
_Mary Mehan Awake_ is the poignant sequel to _The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan_. Mairhe, who was a nurse during the Civil War, now goes by her American name, Mary, and she has left Washington DC work for a bird photographer in New York. Mary is beginning to emerge from the numbness that was a defense against the horrors of the war. The romance between Mary and Henry, a musician deafened by his stint in the war, is sweet and well done.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a good read,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mary Mehan Awake (Hardcover)
The book Mary Mehan Awake is a great book, it is about an Irish woman who has come to America and was a nurse during the cival war. As the book starts it is a series of letters which was a creative way for Armstronge to let the reader in on what happened in the first book, and what Mary has been going through. After the war Mary is recommended by Walt Whitman to be a servant to his friend Jasper Dorsett. She leaves Washington D.C. and heads for the shores of lake Ontario. Mary is a good worker, and Jasper Dorsett is a wildlife photographer, and Mary finds a deep intrest in the photography. After the war Mary had been stripped of all emotions, she had seen too much pain and sorrow and could not feel anymore. At Dorsettes home she begins to fall in love with the stable hand who has been left deaf after the war. As she describes the sounds she hears to him she finds the beauty in life and she beigins to awaken from the sadness she has been so used to. Awake seemed like such an odd title as I started reading the book, but it is the perfect title. It take love and friendship for Mary to come out of the shell she has been in for so long and see the joy and beauty around her. The style that Armstronge uses is great, she uses long flowing sentences that really draw the reader in. The sentences are long but very smooth, the writing is calming and relaxing because it so so subdued. The writing is also very metaphorical, the title of each chapter is a metaphore about the chapter, and the metaphore evolves as the chapter goes along. The author does a great job of making the reader have a relationship with the characters, you get to the point where you begin to care about what happens, and you want them to fall in love. I really enjoyed the book and the style of writing was great as I talked about, but It kind of lost my intrest. The story was a great idea, and a solid theme, it was just something that I can't relate to. I think that a girl could appriciate this book a lot more than I did, because they could probably relate to the feelings that Mary is having throughout the book. I would recommend the book to anyone male or female but I think a female could get a lot more out of it. The strongest part of the book for me was the imagery through the story. As Mary rides into town with the stable hand it describes the leaves falling around and the colors of the trees. When she first arrives at the dorsette house it talks about the cool air pushing against her chest and making her numb. You could really get a sence of what Mary was seeing and feeling. The letters at the begining was an interesting part of the book, I have never seen this sort of introduction to a book, and it is great, you can't even tell that this is a sequal, it really gave the reader a sence of what was going on in Mary's life up to the point where the book begins.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Writing,
This review is from: Mary Mehan Awake (Mass Market Paperback)
This is a perfect little jewel of a book. The language and imagery is very touching. It's listed as a teen book, but even as an adult, I found it a delight to read. The entire story is narrated from Mary's point of view, and we see her emerge from her traumatic experiences as a Civil War nurse. Her relationship with Henry, a young man deafened in battle, is very affecting. Henry communicates by writing notes. He's a very appealing character, but the narration stays with Mary, so we never really know what he's thinking. Still, a very satisfying if short read.
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