Heart of the Lonely Exile

I believe I gave the first book of the series 4 stars, but I def mentioned I was being overtly generous there. This book does actually earn the 4 stars. Again Hoff goes into WAY TOO MUCH detail over the silliest things, but at least the plotline had more in it than they're on a boat....they're still on a boat....they're still on a boat...o yes, and they're still on a boat. The characters are finally starting to come to life. Some of the dialogue is entirely ridiculous, I mean I think Daniel's supposed to be 14 or something like that and he speaks like a 45 year old woman. Sensitive, mature young man or not he really needn't come off like someone's grandmother. Tierney's got good potential as a conflicted young man, but we don't get much more than "I'm mad at Da" "I hate all things not Irish" and "Nora's evil" from him. We shall see where the other 3 books in the series lead.

This book is really full of little details that blossom out into nice bits of plot in the remaining three books of the series. It introduces almost all the rest of the main characters that the rest of the epic revolves around - Patrick Walsh the cad, who merits no further description here; Aunt Winifred, married twice, widowed twice, and still gorgeous going on sixty; Sandemon, Morgan's Negro servant, who is I think one of the best people in the book - so kind and longsuffering; Finola, a beautiful girl who doesn't talk a bit; and Aine, a scruffy little waif from Belfast. Maybe some others too that I've forgotten about. The main thrust of this book, I believe, is to set the stage for the rest of the books - to get Nora and Michael's marriage question settled, match up Evan and Sara with appropriate spouses, paralyse Morgan to keep him from getting into trouble. Also establishes Tierney's character a little better. But enough about that - you just need to read the book. Definitely read the first book, Song of the Silent Harp, before this one, because although you can just read this one, SotSH gives you more insight on what has happened beforehand, thus making it easier to follow the characters and the twists and turns of the plot.I enjoy this one but I don't think I have read it as much as the other four simply because I can't deal with Evan's stuttering sappiness very well. Nora also turns into a mush-pot of sentiment, and I don't like her nearly as much from here on as I did in the first book. Same for Evan. Well, I think I've said enough for now. I hope I have sparked your interest at least a bit in this grand and glorious saga of the Irish.

This book is really good. I have only read it once and would love to read again. It is just one out of a series of five. The series is called The Emerald Ballad. I read the second book called Heart of the Lonely Exile. This is a story during the famine. When the family gets to America they are brought in by the Farmingtons. The story is about their hardships, disease, and deaths that they must over come.I really enjoyed reading this book because I like reading about things that happened in history. Things that happen in the olden days just fascinate me. I am now reading the third book in the series. It is called Land of a Thousand Dreams. It is really good too if you are interested in anything about history this would be a great series for you to read. I know that I enjoyed reading it.

If you loved the first book then this one you will not be able to put down. The story continues to follow Nora and her son, Daniel as they make a new life for themselves in America. All kinds of challenges face them, including their Irish background, racism, trying to make ends meet and romance - will she end up with Michael or Evan? We can't forget Morgan who is still in Ireland...he continues to encourage peace between the English and the Irish and the Protestants and the Catholics. Now that's a challenge. Bottom line, I really liked this book and will pass it on to my friends.