She was married twice, divorced once, took a lover when she wanted, and gave birth to one of her sons on the deck of her own ship. She was Grace O'...
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Jan 05, 2012
Nicholas
rated it: 
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A fascinating account of a shadowy historical figure of varying spellings, an exact contemporary of Elizabeth I, who appears to have used her own resources to prey on shipping along the Atlantic seaboard of Ireland; it's difficult to be sure what is fact and what is fiction - did she really give birth on board one of her own ships, and then a few hours later struggle to the deck to take pot-shots at Algerian raiders? did she really kidnap the More...
A fascinating account of a shadowy historical figure of varying spellings, an exact contemporary of Elizabeth I, who appears to have used her own resources to prey on shipping along the Atlantic seaboard of Ireland; it's difficult to be sure what is fact and what is fiction - did she really give birth on board one of her own ships, and then a few hours later struggle to the deck to take pot-shots at Algerian raiders? did she really kidnap the More...
Jul 25, 2011
Carol
rated it:
I picked this book up on a discount table as an opportunity to learn more about the history of Ireland, a place I hope to travel, from a woman's perspective. The book is only about 100 pages and an easy read. Impressed with how the story of Grace O'Mally intertwined with Elizabethan England, Grace and Elizabeth I being contemporaries. The realities of the period clearly documented in a readable format and reminded me of the movies "Rob Roy" and "Brave Heart." Also interest
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Aug 23, 2011
Joe
rated it:
This book is presented as a run-on of almost jumbled information, with several repetitive and redundant topical statements. It cries out for a publisher to force reformatting where clan controlled areas are presented alongside a historical map, with family trees of relations, and a singular timeline of historical events. As presented, the book contains a map on a sectional plate and I think it included a family chart also on a sectional plate. I'm requesting the presentation of individual sketch
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Dec 15, 2010
jennbunny
rated it: 
Overall, it was an informative book about the time period.
Specifically I was a bit disappointed there was not more information on Grace O'Malley herself. I know there is little information on her, but I felt the book was more about the time period and general history. There were a few good parts concerning her and her meeting with the queen. I could tell she would have been a strong woman in her time.
Now with that being said....this is not an easy book to read. The author quo More...
Specifically I was a bit disappointed there was not more information on Grace O'Malley herself. I know there is little information on her, but I felt the book was more about the time period and general history. There were a few good parts concerning her and her meeting with the queen. I could tell she would have been a strong woman in her time.
Now with that being said....this is not an easy book to read. The author quo More...
Dec 06, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
I think the truth is that very little is actually known about Grace O'Malley, which makes it really hard to write a book about her. A more accurate title would have been: "A History of Connaught from 1560 - 1590" - but that obviously wouldn't have sold as well. Otherwise, very informative, and sited very well, but I definitely felt mislead about what I was reading.
Feb 12, 2009
Carrie
rated it:
Short book and a relatively easy read. I say relatively because there is some Gaelic in it that can be hard to navigate if you're unfamiliar with the language (like myself).
Overall, I wasn't wholly impressed. The author starts with setting the scene, which is fine, but she doesn't really get to the subject of her book until about the third chapter or so. One of the other things I noticed was the author's tendency to get ahead of herself - it was almost as if it was too difficult to More...
Overall, I wasn't wholly impressed. The author starts with setting the scene, which is fine, but she doesn't really get to the subject of her book until about the third chapter or so. One of the other things I noticed was the author's tendency to get ahead of herself - it was almost as if it was too difficult to More...
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Jun 01, 2010
Kaye
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I am completely fascinated by this woman. I would have given the book four stars, except that biographies can sometimes be a little tedious. If you generally like biographies, this is a terrific one. It's got it all: love, sex, power, betrayal, morality, government, oppressed women, plunder, war, subterfuge and more. I hope to visit the area where Granuaile lived and throw myself into the fantasy of it all.
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Jun 07, 2009
Akiko
rated it: 
I'm not a huge history book fan, but I do love historical fiction. So, for me to pick up this book was and interesting choice. It was completely a history of Grace O'malley, but it isn't often you find books about female pirates. It was interesting seeing how she lived back then and how others in the world reacted to her during her time.
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May 01, 2011
Holly
rated it: 
ZZZZZZ. OMG if you have trouble sleeping then pick this book up. It is more of a text-book than anything else. It would be a great reference book for someone. Otherwise skip it!
Jun 25, 2011
Franki
rated it:
Objectively written. Tells a story all little girls should have access to but have been denied for centuries due to male bias.
Apr 24, 2011
Olivia
rated it:
So much information packed into just a few pages makes for difficult, if interesting, reading.
Feb 22, 2008
Kirsten
rated it:
Grace O'Malley, AKA Granuaile, is one of those truly amazing historical figures who is both a product of her time and yet so impossibly modern in other ways. In a time when women didn't inherit and widows were lucky if they retained a home and a livelihood, Granuaile led her own army and her own fleet of ships. Reading this history can be frustrating, though, because so little is known about her, and Chambers is (understandably) reluctant to speculate. The sense of Granuaile's personality that c
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Apr 08, 2011
Finally! An Irish role model I can take after, LOL!!! :-)
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Oct 19, 2011
Jenny
rated it:
Very interesting history about an Irish woman forgotten in the history books.
Sep 29, 2008
Mikkee
rated it:
I read this book for the book club, and I was really excited to read it because I enjoy a good biography and was looking forward to reading about the life of a strong woman in an era that didn't see much of it. Grace O'Malley was a pirate and had such an interesting life, and, quite sadly, the historian who wrote the book made something so interesting incredibly boring. She was very scattered as well and confused the reader quite a bit.
Jul 05, 2009
Joan
rated it:
Probably the definitive biography of Grace O'Malley, this is a good picture of the politics and life in Ireland during the 16th century. I learned about it in a travel article about a group of women who based a trip to Ireland on the places that figured in Grace's life, and took special note of those places since I hope to see many of them next year on the O'Donnell-women's next adventure.
Nov 07, 2011
Angie
rated it:
I managed to struggle through 3/4 of this book, but I just can't finish it. It is not well written and it really focuses on the time/events surrounding Grace...not Grace. Very disappointing.
Sep 16, 2007
Melody
rated it:
Sometimes meandering but always fascinating tale of the historical Irish pirate Grace O'Malley. Largely written out of history by the Irish historians of her time for being a woman in a man's job, Chambers here goes a long way toward redeeming O'Malley's place in history.
Jul 21, 2008
Gail
rated it:
this may have been the worst book I have ever read--do not waste your time!! There was no continuity, the characters were never developed and the whole book was based on a few sketchy facts. It could have been written in one short chapter. Terrible.
Feb 29, 2008
Tara
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I couldn't put this book down. If you love irish/british history --you'll love this.
Apr 18, 2011
Emma
rated it:
Interesting subject - just wish it was put together more as a cohesive story.
Feb 22, 2012
Feb 20, 2012
