Galway Bay

Brilliant!

This brilliant huge epic is loaded with amazing characters, great courage, strength and endurance. The novel begins in 1839. A fishing family and surrounding neighbors make a living in Galway Bay, Ireland. Sixteen year old, Honora Keeley, is to join the local convent, but a chance meeting with young Michael Kelly changes her thinking. The fascinating Irish myths, legends and history were interspersed throughout with Gaelic phrases and words. The injustices of the time will make you cry but the characters indomitable spirit and strength and resilience will make you proud. There was such misery under the British-induced starvation and economic despair, the Protestant hatred for the Catholics. There are great emotions, feelings of love and passion, laughs and sorrows, all persevering for the basics of providing for family. This is what it's all about. Brilliant book!

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Ireland's Early History at its Best

GALWAY BAY
Mary Pat Kelly
Grand Central Publishing
$26.99
ISBN: 978-0-446-57900-1
551 pages
Reviewer: Annie Slessman

Wow¿wow..and wow again! Mary Pat Kelly¿s new novel, Galway Bay, is one of the best-written works of fiction I have read this year. Containing the history of the blight that killed so many crops and people in Ireland in the 1800s. Horror stories of people lying dead in their homes from starvation will stay with the reader for a long time.

The story¿s main character, Honora Keeley Kelly, born in 1822 marries at age 16 when Michael Kelly emerges from the sea and captivates her heart. Kelly is a wanderer, equestrian extraordinaire, blacksmith and soon to be, farmer that keeps his family close and learns to love the land. The story of Honora and Michael¿s family members brings a reader to tears and strengthens their own resolve to be stronger in the face of adversity.

When the blight ends, Michael and Honora finally have a wonderful crop to see them through the year without the threat of starvation. Their joy is short lived when the soldiers take their crops and threaten to take their lives.

Several heroes materialize in this story. Honora, Michael, Michael¿s rebellious brother, Patrick Kelly and Honora¿s sister, Maire. Patrick sparks the Irish rebellion and takes his fight to Amerikay (America) to build strong opposition to the current government and landowners (mostly English) in Ireland. Maire sacrifices herself when a landowner threatens to take Honora as his own. Maire has lost her husband to the sea and feels she is better equipped to handle the landowners demands than Honora.

The Kelly family¿s migration to Amerikay makes for some interesting reading as it includes a history of early Chicago and its demographic makeup.

The 551 pages of this work appear a bit intimidating. However, a reader will have no trouble getting through the work, as you will not be able to put it down until you have read the last word.

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Outstanding!

One of the best written books I have ever read. It is a historic novel based on true events. I usually don't read a lot of fiction, but this novel is so factually accurate and thrilling it kept me riveted. One of the few books that appeals to both the romantic and history buff.
Faugh-a-Ballagh

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A Wonderful Historic Novel

Galway Bay is an fantastic book. Kelly shows how the events of history unfold to affect one family and the impact over the generations. The characters in this book are amazing. Honora Kelly displays a great strength as she helps save her family from starvation, brings her children to America as a widow, and then worries for her boys as they fight in America's Civil War. As a reader, I could feel the strength of the emotions in this book as well as the pangs of their hunger. The characters truly come alive off the pages.

Kelly sprinkles some Irish phrases into the dialogue which adds to the authentic feel of the book. There is a glossary in the back of the book which aids in understanding these terms although many can be understood simply from their place in the text.

Through telling the story of one family, Kelly truly tells the tale of the millions who fled Ireland during the starvation to create new lives for themselves in America. I would highly recommend Galway Bay as a rich, historical novel and as a novel of family. The book also contains a reading guide which would make it an ideal book club selection.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Beautiful Novel

I have little background knowledge about Irish history. I know a little about the potato famine but my knowledge doesn't extend beyond that. I did study Italian immigration for my Bachelor's but that really does not lend itself to understanding Irish history, now does it? I was a bit worried when I picked up this book that I would become lost because of my lack of knowledge. I, however, found that it was not the case at all. The moment I began reading, I became immersed in the story.

I cannot tell you how much Galway Bay entranced me from the very beginning. I absolutely loved every single aspect of this book. I felt every joy and sorrow the Kelly family went through as if it was happening to me. I felt each tragedy and hunger pang. I often had to put the book down because it became so emotionally draining. I think that is a credit to Mary Pat Kelly. Her writing style is so crisp and descriptive. You really feel the events of this book very deeply. There was an event midway through the book that hit me like a thunderbolt. I had no idea it was coming. I am not a very emotional person in most situation but I found myself tearing up while reading this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested, even on the smallest level, in Irish history. Please don't be daunted by the size of the novel. It really is a quick read.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Excellent read

You'll love it if you're Irish.

Great Story!

An insight into the lives of the Irish in their homeland during the 1800s and in the United States during the period of the Civil War. I loved the book and recommend it to anyone who likes a good story. Well written

Incredibly insightful

In 1839 in Ireland, Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly meet when he was swimming in Galway Bay just before she is to enter a convent. They fall in love and to the chagrin of her father, they marry. Though times are tough life is good for the couple as they survive like most Irish Catholics on pratties (potatoes).

However as the Protestant leadership cracks down economically on the Catholics, three bad crops in four years leave the young wondering whether it is time to leave to start over elsewhere. The Kelly couple moves to Chicago where his brother Patrick lives. There they begin a new life hoping to catch the vaunted American dream.

The scenes in Ireland are incredibly haunting as people are caught up in the avarice of others and want to change a bad situation; similar to the financial crisis now. The story line purposely simmers slowly so that fans of historical epics can taste what the key players are feeling over the years especially in Chicago. However, that also serves as a two edged sword as that leads to skipped decades and a horde of resilient expatriates. Still this nineteenth century saga provides readers with a deep look at the potato famine made worse by greed while celebrating five decades of Irish American life in Chicago.

Harriet Klausner

Love This Book!!!

I just started reading this book, and I'm almost finished with it! The writer's descriptions make you feel like you are right there alongside Honora & Michael and their families. All the trials, tribulations... the hardships & the heartbreak that this family, and the people of Ireland, have had to endure... Definitely pulls on the heartstrings. Lots of history, but also some good humor. So glad I picked this up!

An excellent book!!!

I loved this book because my family (all grandparents) came from Ireland and I'm always interesed in how they came about to America. This book is really a good "history" book plus story telling as only Irish can tell it. If you are interested in Ireland or any type of history, I thin you will find this very very good.

What a wonderful book!

This is an interesting story about very real Irish people. It showed the trials that the Irish went through in their homeland, and the trials with emigration. Although it's a large book, it is extremely readable. I didn't want to put it down once I started it. I heartily recommend it.

Right up there with the very best in Irish historical fiction

This book held my attention all the way through.
It was a "couldn't put it down" type novel.
The plots were complex and spanned the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland to New Orleans to Chicago.
You won't be disappointed!

Irish History, Romance and Survival!

This book is captivating, especially if you have family from Ireland. I wa spell bound. I admit sometimes things were a bit drawn out but it did add to the drama. Loosely based on the trial of a real family, this book had someething for everyone, the warrior, the mother, the hard working, the scoundel and the survivor in us all. A great story aobut a great land and great family. I higjly recommend this book. I have already suggested it to friends and family. So I recommend it to you as well. This is a good summer read.

A Moving and Very Good Read!

Frank McCourt's commentary on the book mentions laughter and tears and this book did make me cry. The plot based around the potato famine and one family's immigration to America was educational and moving. You become involved with all the characters and there were many- alot of children to keep straight. I thought the story was going in one direction and it took a little turn in the middle which was a sad twist but probably true to history. It also reminds us of the importance of family and what they have to teach us that we may rarely take advantage of. A very good read and I would recommend it to anyone.

A book that transports you in time

Extremely well written book with good solid characters that tell a story of a family over several generations as they struggle through the potato famine and overcome many hardships to get from Ireland to America and make a new life for themselves in a bustling Chicago of the mid 1800's.
a book that you want to keep going and the story not end.

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