Set during Ireland's devastating potato famine, a spellbinding novel
of a young woman torn between love for her family and duty to her
English husband.
Patrick O'Malley names his newborn daughter Gracelin for the light of
the sea that shines in her eyes. But when young Gracelin is only six
years old, her mother's untimely death drains joy and laughter from the
O'Malley clan.
At fifteen, Gracelin saves her family from financial ruin by marrying
Bram Donnelly, the son of a wealthy English landowner. But, even though
Gracelin is Protestant, she is snubbed by English high society for
marrying above her station. To temporarily appease her husband's cruel
nature, she intends to provide him with an heir--but that, too, will end
in sorrow.
As famine sweeps Ireland, Gracelin openly defies her husband by feeding
the desperate souls who come to their door. In secret, she also sides
with the rebels who call themselves the Young Irelanders. Led by Morgan
McDonagh and joined by Gracelin's beloved brother, Sean, the Irelanders
are determined to fight and free their homeland from the yoke of English
rule.
A vivid chronicle of nineteenth-century Ireland, the first volume of Ann
Moore's popular trilogy introduces a courageous young heroine and
movingly portrays an indomitable people as they struggle to survive the
infamous famine and the brutal civil war that arrived in its wake. Fans
of gripping historical fiction will love this "epic saga that sweeps you
into the life of a remarkable woman" (Romantic Times).
