I bought this book because I love reading about Ireland and genology, I had no idea there was a 1st book and a 3rd, well i loved this one the 2nd, and I had to buy the first and 3 rd book!!!From leaving ireland from starvaton, then on the ship, the hardships on there, illness, the terrible ship doctor, how irish were taken advantage of. and finally when in NY you find starving Irish there. I can just imagine what my great grandmother had to go thru to get here.

Gracelin O'Malley, the spirited young woman readers first met in the novel bearing her name, continues to amaze in this second of a three-part saga. If readers are looking for a role model, one who shows you how to triumph against all odds, one who shows you how to live your life with love and tenderness, look no further than this heroine with a remarkable and unflagging spirit. Not only are we as readers first-hand witnesses as she seeks a better life for herself and fellow Irishmen, but we are also treated to a great novel about the power of a mother's love.

Gracelin, when last we met her, was forced to leave Ireland after her beloved husband Morgan was reported dead, she killed an English officer, and her son was too sickly to travel with her. With her daughter Mary Kate, she endured countless atrocities on board a ship bound for New York. Never caving in to the depression and hopeless feelings of many, Gracelin arrives and finds life in America not exactly what she had envisioned. If ever someone made lemons out of lemonade, then surely that someone was Gracelin as she seeks to make a better life for herself, her daughter, and her beloved brother.

Her adventures make for excellent reading---whether she is helping a former slave reunite with her children, protecting an orphan she comes to love as her own, or succumbing to the reality of losing her son, Ann Moore has given us as fine an adventure, romance, and overall ripping good read as any imaginable.

This is the story of Gracelin, but also the story of a young America opening its arms but not always its heart to the immigrants who came. You'll understand why they kissed the ground on arrival, and fought discrimination with every fiber of their being to make this country their home and a haven for their children.

If you love romance and adventure, come follow the story of Gracelin, from her pits of despair to her glorious dance in the sunshine at novel's end.

This is the second of Ann Moore's saga, and it is amazing to say the least. Gracelin O'Malley's strength and sheer will to live will leave the reader in awe. Moore writes with such clarity and description, one feels as though they are watching each scene, not reading it. I highly recommend the entire series. Enjoy it.

If you haven't read the previous novel, then I don't suggest reading this one yet. Get the first one, Gracelin O'Malley, and be prepared for a weekend of serious reading. If you haven't read the first, you won't be lost, as much is explained, but the first in the triology gives a lot of background detail, which is left out.
I loved this book as much as the first, and was really disappointed when it ended. Gracelin moves to America and starts finding her way amongst a large and repressed Irish population. More trials await her in America, but she manages to overcome and hangs onto the hope she brought with her.
I eagerly await the last book, which is in the mail as I type!