The Green Road by Anne Enright

Enright's The Green Road features Rosaleen Madigan is an Irish wife and mother who attempts to control her family, husband and four children, with histrionics and melodrama. So in 1980, when oldest son Dan announces his intention to study for the priesthood, his mother starts to cry during Sunday dinner and, after dinner, takes to her bed for days. The family carries on, the burden of running the household falling on the oldest daughter, Constance. Eventually Rosaleen emerges from her bedroom and ordinary life resumes.

Decades later, Rosaleen is a widow and her children have left home. Dan, who did not become a priest, lives in North America and is involved in the art world and the gay community. His brother Evan has gone in an entirely different direction, providing medical care to poor people in Africa. Youngest daughter Hanna has gone into acting and only Constance remains near the family home, following the traditional Irish path of wife and mother. Feeling lonely, neglected and incapable of maintaining her property, Rosaleen decides she will sell her old house and live in something more modern. She summons her children home for Christmas and they dutifully obey. But the Christmas conversation devolves into arguments and injured feelings. Once again Rosaleen responds melodramatically, disappearing into the Irish countryside on a cold winter night. It is a pattern which will repeat itself again. Rosaleen may not get what she wants but she will be the center of attention.

Born With Teeth by Kate Mulgrew

These days, you’re most likely to recognize longtime actress Kate Mulgrew from her role as “Red” Reznikov on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.  But Mulgrew has a varied acting history that spans decades.

 In her new memoir, Mulgrew talks in detail about many of the stages of her life.  She details her upbringing in a large, Catholic family on a beautiful Iowa farm, going to New York to study acting with Stella Adler and the death of her younger sister.  A young Kate has to make a decision to work on not one, but two prestigious projects while quitting her training.

She has several intense romantic relationships and as a young woman, becomes pregnant and gives the baby up for adoption with no knowledge of the child’s whereabouts.   This painful decision colors much of her future and mental health but Mulgrew continues working at a staggering pace.  She eventually marries and has two sons with artistic director Robert Egan. By the end of the book, the reader sees two of the actress’s biggest life events: the search for her biological daughter and her role as Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager. 

The actress who plays colorful roles on the stage and screen is no less vibrant in real life.  Mulgrew’s memoir is written with honesty, wit, and beautiful language.  Check out Born With Teeth from the library today!

The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor

Inspired by true events, The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic tells the story of Maggie Murphy, a seventeen year old Irish girl. Maggie, along with thirteen other members of her small Irish town, set sail on the maiden voyage of the unsinkable R.M.S. Titanic, in search of a better life in America. For Maggie, the trip is bittersweet as she leaves behind the man she loves.

Although the group of fourteen who set sail on Titanic from a small town in Ireland are third class passengers aboard the ship, Gaynor still paints a lovely picture of just how beautiful everything aboard the Titanic must have been. From the beautiful china with the White Star Line logo, to the description of the first class passengers, and the impeccable food served aboard the glorious ship, Gaynor makes the reader feel as if they're sailing on board with Maggie.

On that fateful night in April, when Titanic hit the iceberg, Maggie is the only one from her group of fourteen to make it aboard the Carpathia, and eventually to safety at a New York City hospital. With a bit of recovery ahead of her and no family with her, Maggie is unsure what to do next.

Fast forward to 1982, where Grace, a young journalism college student begins to drift after the unexpected death of her beloved father. That is until Great-grandmother Maggie tells the story of what happened aboard the Titanic the horrible night of April 15th, 1912. After hearing Maggie's story, Grace once again feels the fire to write. After having Maggie's story published, Grace's life slowly begins to rebuild itself. When the offer presents itself Grace and Maggie find themselves in Ireland. It's proof that you're never too old to go home.

With Gaynor's attention to detail and her ability to tell a story, this book will suit the reading interests of Titanic and historical fiction enthusiasts alike.

Ellis Island by Kate Kerrigan

The first in this historical fiction trilogy by Kate Kerrigan follows young Ellie Hogan as she comes of age, goes to boarding school, and marries her first love. Set in the 1920s, Ellis Island tells the tale of a young couple, so in love, trying to live their lives amid war torn Ireland as the Irish battle the British for Hole Rule (or the right to rule Ireland by the Irish). When Ellie's husband is injured in battle, and times get exceptionally tough, Ellie receives a letter from a friend in New York offering her a job as a lady's maid for a wealthy woman.

Promising to send money back to Ireland to pay for her husband's medical care, Ellie takes the job, setting sail for New York. After seeing the beckoning Statue of Liberty and making it through Ellis Island, Ellie realized just how different New York is. Having never been this far away from home before, Ellie starts to miss home, her "normal" life, and her husband, John.

Once she's finally settled into life in New York, this book follows the story of what it was like to be a young woman in the 1920s. Filled with 1920s fashion and cultural references, read along as Ellie encounters all of the new, exciting, and often overwhelming things that are changing in her life. While she starts to assimilate in New York, she can't help but feel like a piece of who she is was left behind in Ireland.

Kate Kerrigan writes this book in a way that makes you feel as if you're living in lush, green Ireland and traveling aboard the crowded RMS Celtic with Ellie. When she finally makes it to New York you can't help but relate to the awe-inspiring sight of  Statue of Liberty and the great hall of Ellis Island (especially if you've been there to see such an amazing, humbling historical sight). Be sure to read Ellis Island and the other books in this trilogy.

Check out Ellis Island @ the library today!

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin

Nora Webster by Colm Toibin is an unusual novel of development. The protagonist is not a young woman who changes by venturing into the wider world but rather grows emotionally while remaining in her small Irish community. In the late 1960s, Nora Webster, a woman in her forties, is widowed when her husband dies of heart disease. She is the mother of four children; two adult daughters and two adolescent sons. Her reaction to her husband’s death is to withdraw from society, annoyed by the seemingly endless condolences offered by friends and neighbors. The book is a slow-moving but beautifully written description of a domestic life. The defining event of the book, a husband’s death, occurs before the story begins. The rest of the book is comprised of small events and decisions that contribute to the changes in Nora’s life.  She reluctantly accepts a job someone has arranged for her and grows in that position. She joins a music society, takes singing lessons and redecorates her home. She stands apart from her sisters and in-laws and confidently cultivates her own tastes and opinions. Toibin has based Nora on his own mother and describes her difficulties with great understanding. If you are looking for a book with action, or even a defined plot, this is not the book for you. Nora Webster is a study in the quiet courage required to live an ordinary life.

Check out Nora Webster @ the library today!

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Spoiler alert…In this book Skippy dies on page 5. Skippy dies while engaged in a doughnut eating contest with his friend Ruprecht. The rest of this funny book is devoted to informing the reader how he came to this end.

Skippy is a fourteen year old student at a boys’ boarding school in Ireland.  He is surrounded by boys his own age, adolescents with the usual adolescent problems and personalities. They inflict one another with cruel nicknames. (Skippy, whose given name is Daniel, is so called because of his resemblance to a kangaroo on a television show.) They play cruel pranks and threaten each other with violence. They regale each other with lies, stories laced with sexual bravado and brave defiance of authority. There are also, of course, teachers. Many are graduates of this same school. They inflict one another with cruel nicknames, such as Howard the Coward. They play cruel pranks and threaten each other with violence. They regale each other with lies, stories laced with sexual bravado and brave defiance of authority. Some are well-meaning but incompetent. Some are consumed with ambition and incompetent. Parents are self-absorbed and indifferent except when their child’s success might reflect back on them. Adolescent girls have their own school and their own forms of cruelty which they inflict on boys, parents and teachers. Drugs are rampant on both campuses.

Skippy falls in love with a beautiful girl from the nearby all-girls’ school.  At first he can only worship her from afar as he watches her play Frisbee. He finally meets her and learns her name (Lori) at the ill-fated Halloween Hop mixer held at his school. The beautiful Lori allows him to think she is his girlfriend, but she is mercurial and manipulative and unworthy of the sweet-natured Skippy. Meanwhile history teacher, Howard Fallon, is just as infatuated with Miss McIntyre, the new substitute teacher, as Skippy is with Lori, and his actions are just as immature as Skippy’s (or more so.)

After Skippy becomes infatuated with Lori, his behavior changes. He becomes forgetful.  He daydreams in class and outside of class. He gets physically ill. He, against his father’s and coach’s wishes, quits the swim team. The teachers notice his uncharacteristic behavior but none step up to properly investigate his problem. Skippy asks to come home for a visit but his father refuses. In the end, the indifference of the adults charged with protecting Skippy is far crueler than any nickname or violence or broken heart a fellow teen could inflict on him.

Skippy Dies is a bittersweet book, a dark comedy with, despite its title and theme, a hopeful end. 

Check out Skippy Dies @ the library!