Customer Reviews

The Walking People

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

On the rugged coast of Galway, the Cahill family survives by managing their small holding and by illegally fishing salmon from the river, a privilege reserved for the leading family of the area. When things go bad for the family, the mother, Lily, desparing of providing her youngest two children of a good life, sends them off to America. The youngest, Greta, doesn't want to leave; her home and her mother are the constants in her life. But her older sister, Johanna, is a driving force also; and where she goes, Greta will follow.

Accompanied by a tinker boy, who yearns for a settled life away from the rootlessness of his roving family, the sisters emigrate to New York. Due to circumstances that arise, Johanna abandons the other two and strikes out on her own, always a free spirit who cannot be contained in one spot for long. Greta and Michael discover a comfort in each other's company, and forge an unbreakable bond that endures through 50 years, until Johanna again unbalances their lives with a rude re-entry.

The tale of Greta's emergence from a shy, unsure-of-herself wallflower to a self-assured matriarch is a stirring tale, well-told and absorbing. Mary Beth Keane, the author, invests a knowledge and love of the Irish landscape and people into every sentence in the book, as she develops Greta into the person she never thought she could be and gives Michael the cornerstone he has been searching for all his life.

This is one of the most well-considered books I have read in a long while. Full of descriptive prose, and pulsing with spirit, it takes us along on an intrepid journey from the comfortable old shoe of the homeland to a new and challenging world of strangeness and new ideas.

There is an old adage concerning the writing business that advises the writer to write what he or she knows. In The Walking People, Keane follows this advice to the great advantage of her readers. She captures the experience of the twentieth century Irish diaspora in this winning novel. I suspect that she carefully researched the details of life in Galway and New York 50 years ago, but the most important details are not the result of research. They spring out of one's own experience, and sometimes grace the pages of a novel. This is just such a story, one that is certainly worth your while.

Keane exposes the intimate details of characters who live with secrets. The secrets are a part of their whole family. Greta, the protagonist, lives with a lie that she clings to, even when it threatens her relationship with her sister and her daughter. Watching Greta grow up, the reader can sympathize with her motives, which underlie her irrational and destructive behavior.

If you remember that time and place, you will meet a lot of familiar people in this book. Keane creates characters that are real enough to remind me of people in my own life. She describes their approach to calamity, discord, and happiness; their stoicism, restrained affections and displacement. They engage in the Irish way of fixing interpersonal conflicts by never speaking to that person for the rest of your life. If only that weren't true.

Keane's story never lags, never fails to fascinate. It started slowly, but gathered momentum as the characters become real people, and gradually took over this reader's life. I was genuinely sorry that the book came to an end. This is a masterful and painfully accurate description of family, love and hope. Although limited in particular details, the novel is universal in scope. I recommend it to all.

Mary Beth Keane has written a remarkable debut novel with THE WALKING PEOPLE. This is a beautifully written story of the Irish immigrant experience, but with a slight twist in that the story begins in 1956 and ends in 2007.

Greta and Johanna Cahill are sisters living in a small seaside cottage in Ballyroan, a small village that at one time consisted of seven families, but know consists of the Cahill family - Big Tom, Lily, Jack, Padriac, Little Tom, Johanna and Greta - and one other neighbor. The closest town is Conch, about four miles away. Life is hard in Ballyroan (there is no electricity) and the Cahill men earn a living by illegally fishing and selling salmon. One day, a young woman named Julia Ward shows up at the Cahill's door. Julia comes from a group of travellers, sometimes known as "Tinkers". These people travel the countryside, never staying in one place. Thus begins a connection between the Cahill's and the Ward's that would last for many years and encompass both Ireland and America.

This is primarily Greta's story. There is nothing unlikable about her. Johanna is probably the least likable character, but at some point in the story, she becomes a periphery character, and you almost forget why she's unlikable. This is also a love story. Love between Michael Ward and Greta, love between Greta and Johanna's daughter, also named Julia whom Greta is raising as her own and love of "home", wherever that is, be it Ireland or America.

Keane has done a wonderful job in portraying life in a small Irish village and life in New York City. Her description's of Michael's work in the water tunnels of New York City is both alarming and gritty. Incredible written detail and beautifully drawn characters made this a pleasure to read.

"The Walking People" is a richly textured, beautifully written novel. Spanning a fifty year period, from 1956-57 to 2007, this timeless story of immigrants seeking the American dream could have taken place in any era. First or second generation Americans will recognize, in the Cahill and Ward families, the courage it took for their own ancestors to leave the "old country" and seek a better life.

Raised outside a dying Irish country village, Johanna and Greta Cahill seize their opportunity to immigrate to the United States. An American visitor to their village has "invited" them to stay with her if they ever cross the ocean. Shannon, thus, provides the impetus for the girls to follow through with their desire to go to America. Accompanied by Michael Ward, a traveller or one of the walking people, the two sisters arrive in New York to begin their new lives.

Each of the three must overcome the past in order to thrive in the United States; only two, Greta and Michael, are able to do so. Michael seeks stability and a home. The disrepute with which the itinerant life of his ancestors is viewed haunts him so that he is hesitant to connect with other Irish immigrants. Greta provides him with the anchor he needs to reach his goal. Greta, labeled as the "goose" in Ireland, discovers she is smart and competant. Nevertheless, she continues to doubt herself, but still embraces and succeeds in building her life in the States. Johanna, Greta's older sister, isunable to overcome her wild streak. She returns to Ireland, abandoning her child to Greta and Michael's care: Julia is Michael's child, as well, conceived during the ocean passage to America.

Mary Beth Keane is a skilled writer who brings her characters to life. She develops their personalities and allows the individuals to grow into complete, strong people. Keane is able to make the reader care deeply about each individual; one wants good things to happen to the characters. Further, Keane is able to build the emotional impact of this simple story without the reader realizing she is doing so. The poignant chapters dealing with Michael's retirement, and Greta's realization that he is experiencing symptoms of Alzheimers are beautifully written. As I finished the book, I found tears streaming down my cheeks. Keane has an artist's gift for description; the reader can feel the sea breezes, the blackness of the water tunnels, and each location in which the novel's action takes place. Emotions are raw and realistic.

Keane shows us that people may still carry self-doubt even when they appear to have overcome the past. In some way, each of the characters in this novel is one of the walking people. Someone who moves through life, always seeking and always hoping to find; someone who meets challenges and is not defeated by circumstances. "The Walking People" is a wonderful book; I will be recommending it to all my friends.

Mary Beth Keane's "The Walking People" begins in the 1950s on the Cahill farm in rural Western Ireland. The Cahill family lives a primitive life on their farm, without modern conveniences. When the two youngest Cahill children--Johanna and Greta--decide to emigrate to America after a family tragedy along with Michael, a traveler who has settled in with the family, their lives begin to change in ways they never would have imagined possible. The novel traces their epic journey from Ireland to New York, and their unexpected lives as the unfold.

This novel was excellent. It traces the lives of its main characters over a 50 year time span and does a wonderful job following their differing emotions as they adapt to life in America, start a family and age. The story gives a more detailed account of late immigrant life in America than most other stories I've read. The majority of the story is told from Greta's perspective, as she goes from odd ball daughter in Ireland to lover and mother in America. Her emotional journey is poignant and incredibly engrossing.

I really enjoyed reading this story about the lives of several people who grew up in Ireland and settled in the United States in the mid 20th century.

The story is so beautifully written, and so comprehensively imagined, that it feels like a memoir (and I really tend to enjoy memoirs). I remember looking at the back of the book and thinking - "She's too young to have written this book!" :)

In a story that spans approximately 50 years, we are introduced to Greta and Johanna, two sisters living in a remote, dying community in the west of Ireland, when they are young children. They end up immigrating to the United States with a young man from a "gypsy" community who desires to settle down. There are some really interesting explorations of personality (with some lovely and surprising twists that I particularly enjoyed) and habits people pick up from their families and how those play out in different places.

After the great clarity provided about how people's complex fears, frustrations and past choices make reconciliation difficult, I have to admit that the ending was somewhat unsatisfying.

When I initially started reading this book, it just didn't "grab" me...otherwise, I couldn't get in to it. I put it down for a couple of weeks, and later went back to it with a fresh mind. I ended up really enjoying the story and the characters. I especially like that the novel spanned over the course of several decades. I look forward to seeing more works from this author.

I've just finished this book and thought that is was really great! I loved spaning the decades with the characters and seeing them grow and blossom throughout the book. Although I was left wanting to know more I loved the way the book developed with the turn of each page. Give it a try I think that you will really like it too!

Very interesting, believable characters inhabit this wonderful period novel. The story takes a few pages to get going, but once it does, I found myself unable to put the novel down.

I loved this book on so many levels. First the author has a very clear understanding of the Irish family dynamics and the period in which she is writing. I felt like I was right there with Greta through her journey to discover herself. This was an Ireland that I could identify with both in Ireland and in the US. They could have been my Irish ancestors who created a life in the US but still had one foot firmly planted in Ireland and her culture and mores. That makes this story very unique, The author never lets the reader forget this is Greta's story and I found my self cheering her on because I could idenify so much with her being one who everyone underestimates.

Greta, labeled by her family as that child who is just too different and should be kept close to home, is a character whose transformation has the reader cheering her on from the very beginning. Labeled the Goose Girl by her family who doesn't appreciate the strength just below the surface, Greta rises above her family's expectation and shows who has the real strength, even if they never acknowledge it. I loved the way the sister's story was interwoven in Ireland with their transformation in the US of the 60's. Be prepared for a lot of tears as well, I was surprised how the story effected me.

Drawbacks to the story.. I wish she would have provided Greta with a stronger male protagonist. Michael, the tinker/gyps was an interesting counterpart to both the sisters but he seemed to get short changed or at best was in the way of the reader. Of course that might have reduced Greta's growth. Also the ending of the book I felt it was too abrupt and yet maybe that was the only way it could end. Maybe it was because I really didn't want to leave Greta behind. I can't wait for more form this gifted writer.