Famine and Forging Ahead in “The Irishman’s Daughter”

We’ve all heard about “the luck of the Irish.” But what about their suffering? Even in Ireland, history lessons barely discuss the Irish potato famine of the mid-19th century. Textbooks include the blight but don’t detail the suffering and anguish caused by the scourged potato crops. Omitted is the trauma which killed over a million Irish and caused another million to emigrate to England, Wales, and America. The Irishman’s Daughter (Kensington), a novel by V. S. Alexander , is a history lesson on steroids.

Cover of The Irishman’s Daughter by V. S. Alexander (Girl in brown dress looking at a heath field)

Brian Walsh is the land agent for Lear House, the country estate of English gentleman Sir Thomas Blakely, who is only there for two months of the year. Life is good in County Mayo in 1845, with potato crops thriving and tenants living off the land.

Until famine strikes.

Read the rest of my review at BookTrib.com.

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