Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor
Book Title: Star of the Sea
Author: Joseph O'Connor
Genre: Historical Fiction, Ireland
My Grade: B-
# of Pages: 406
Summary: In the bitter winter of 1847, far from an Ireland torn by famine and injustice, the Star of the Sea sets sail for the New World. On board are hundreds of refugees. Among them are a maid with a devestating secret, the bankrupt Lord Merridith and his wife and children, and a killer who stalks the decks in search of vengeance.
This journey will see many lives end, while others begin anew. In this spellbinding tale of tragedy and mercy, love and healing, the farther the ship sails toward the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past that will never let them go.
My Thoughts: Think LOST set well over a hundred years ago and on the high seas, and that's pretty much what you get with this book. People seemingly cut from very different molds, that led very different lives, suddenly put together on a ship, and as their stories unfold we the reader learn exactly how intertwined their lives really were.
The book started off pretty slow, the characters and story being hard to relate to. Everything set with a sort of critical distance, the narrator shaky (you're never really sure who's telling the story until near the very end of the book). There is also one character, who the entire story seems to revolve around, who is barely mentioned at all within the novel, though the author acknowledges this in the end.
The end was what made this book worthwhile, quickly becoming a mystery with a twist that even the most seasoned of mystery readers wouldn't see coming, I sure didn't. If you can hold on in the beginning and try to follow most of what's going on, the end of the book is worth the struggle.
Overall? Good read. A little tedious at times, but good. Can't say it's going to be a memorable one though. But remember, as I've said before, this is just one person's opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being someone else's favorite book.
Next Book: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller • review
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Author: Joseph O'Connor
Genre: Historical Fiction, Ireland
My Grade: B-
# of Pages: 406
Summary: In the bitter winter of 1847, far from an Ireland torn by famine and injustice, the Star of the Sea sets sail for the New World. On board are hundreds of refugees. Among them are a maid with a devestating secret, the bankrupt Lord Merridith and his wife and children, and a killer who stalks the decks in search of vengeance.
This journey will see many lives end, while others begin anew. In this spellbinding tale of tragedy and mercy, love and healing, the farther the ship sails toward the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past that will never let them go.
My Thoughts: Think LOST set well over a hundred years ago and on the high seas, and that's pretty much what you get with this book. People seemingly cut from very different molds, that led very different lives, suddenly put together on a ship, and as their stories unfold we the reader learn exactly how intertwined their lives really were.
The book started off pretty slow, the characters and story being hard to relate to. Everything set with a sort of critical distance, the narrator shaky (you're never really sure who's telling the story until near the very end of the book). There is also one character, who the entire story seems to revolve around, who is barely mentioned at all within the novel, though the author acknowledges this in the end.
The end was what made this book worthwhile, quickly becoming a mystery with a twist that even the most seasoned of mystery readers wouldn't see coming, I sure didn't. If you can hold on in the beginning and try to follow most of what's going on, the end of the book is worth the struggle.
Overall? Good read. A little tedious at times, but good. Can't say it's going to be a memorable one though. But remember, as I've said before, this is just one person's opinion. I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being someone else's favorite book.
Next Book: Miss Spitfire by Sarah Miller • review
Back to the Book List.