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Reviews tagging 'Grief'
So Far From Home: the Diary of Mary Driscoll, an Irish Mill Girl, Lowell, Massachusetts, 1847 by Barry Denenberg
2 reviews
littleseal's review against another edition
The author of this book has written some other 'Dear America' books, but this one has been my favorite of his so far. It's fitting I read this one the month before going out to Ireland.
I knew of the Great Famine, but this got me interested to learn more about it, and it doesn't surprise me about what ended up happening later with Ireland wanting their independence from England (with how England handled the famine of Irish folk).
I knew of the Great Famine, but this got me interested to learn more about it, and it doesn't surprise me about what ended up happening later with Ireland wanting their independence from England (with how England handled the famine of Irish folk).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Death, Xenophobia, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Hate crime, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Excrement, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Vomit
peytonktracy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This Dear America book was speedy. And not very plot heavy, truthfully. More like, an account of someone bearing witness to a moment in history, but without a lot of meat about the person themselves. We meet Mary Driscoll suffering from the famine in Ireland, follow her on her journey across the Atlantic to Boston, and then learn about what life was like for Irish immigrants in the early industrial revolution towns. You frankly don't have time to get invested in any of the characters in particular, you just don't see them enough. It well written, well researched, and I was able to empathize with the difficult experiences faced by many 19th century women immigrants, like Mary, but I didn't really connect with her as a character - she was just too placid. The epilogue was very unexpected though, so that was an appreciated twist from the historian in me!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Violence
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