She is a young lady whose family supports themselves fishing Galway Bay "so calm and quiet. Three times in four years our only food rotted in the ground." - Honora Keeley Kelly as told to her great-granddaughter Agnella Kelly.Īs we follow Honora Keeley Kelly through her life, meeting her as a young lady preparing to enter the convent, we learn of the lives of the fishermen and tenant farmers in Ireland during "the Before Times". But then the blight destroyed the potato. They'd spent centuries trying to kill us off, one way or another, and here we were, raising seven, eight, nine of a family on nothing but potatoes and buttermilk. I was immediately hooked with the prologue: I don't know of a way to describe this story of survival in a way that will do it justice but I will try my best. I happened across the novel Galway Bay one day when I was wandering around the local book store. Galway Bay is a beautifully-written historical fiction that describes the horrors of the potato famine and ultimately the life and survival of a family and two countries. And that is the reason I am writing this review. Yes, it was so good that I will read it again. Patrick's Day approaches I am pulling out my copy of Galway Bay for a second reading.
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