Review: Away
Editorial Review - Kirkus ReviewsUrquhart's third novel (after Changing Heaven, not reviewed) is an engrossing multigenerational tale shot through with passages of poetic intensity and beauty. On Raithlin, a small island off the northern Irish coast, in the mid-19th century, a young woman named Mary is changed forever by a romantic, tragic encounter. A sailor, victim of a distant shipwreck, is washed ashore and dies in her arms. The islanders believe that the youth is Mary's demon lover who has sent her away to the spirit realm, leaving only her physical replica. In fact, Mary moves about in a heightened state of dreamy creativity, consumed by shimmering visions of the sailor, the sea, and far-off lands she has never seen. She finally agrees to marry Brian, master of a local school, who loves her for her otherworldliness as much as for her russet-haired beauty. With Brian, Mary finds a measure of contentment, especially after the birth of their son, Liam. In 1846, however, the potato crops fail and the family is faced with starvation. With a gift from their British landlords, they emigrate to Canada on one of the notorious ""coffin ships."" They survive the wracking journey and settle on scruffy farmland in the Canadian north woods. In the deep forest, the pull of the other world begins to reassert itself, and one day Mary disappears, leaving behind seven-year-old Liam and an infant daughter, Eileen. Several years later, an Algonquin named Exodus Crow appears, bearing Mary's corpse and explaining the abandonment of her family. Once grown, Liam and Eileen move south to settle on the shores of Lake Erie, where Liam realizes his dream of nurturing the land on a flourishing and fertile farm. In an echo of her mother's doomed romance, Eileen falls passionately in love with a fiery Irish patriot. The devastating consequences include a political assassination and the birth of their love child, who must be raised by Liam and his wife. In chronicling one family, Away celebrates the talismanic power of memory and the possibilities inherent in the lyricism and magic that exist just beyond the edges of reality. A novel that is both literary and accessible.
Review: Away
User Review - jeff - GoodreadsLIKE all her writing the words are a combination of lyricism and poetry. Gives a lovely insight into the authors feel for the Irish under british rule in " serfish conditions " through the famine to ... Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Ep - GoodreadsFabulous book which was poorly represented on Canada Reads this year. Great linkage of Irish lore, the migration during the potato famine, the development of Canada. A wonderful read. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Bridget - GoodreadsPerfection. I've ripped my copy to shreds. Plan was to rip off its structure, but set the tale in 19th-c eastern townships (farming, barn building) instead of Newfoundland (fishing, ship-building. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Kathy - GoodreadsI liked this book, but didn't love it. Not really sure why. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Yvonne - GoodreadsRecommend this book. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Sarina Meyer - GoodreadsFrom Canada Reads 2013. This book starts and ends strangely. The middle is good. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - A. Moss - GoodreadsBeautifully write...like poetry. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Edita - GoodreadsCould have been a little better written I wasn't too excited about the woman in the novel speaking to the spirits. Read full review
Review: Away
User Review - Debbie G - GoodreadsThe scenes were evocative . They were described so well I thought of them as oil paintings in my head. The characters were hard to get into however. I found the idea of a new mother leaving her infant ... Read full review
