false 147848 12 Joseph O'Connor's impressive historical novel, <I>Star of the Sea</I>, examines the unsettled personal tragedies among a group of interrelated characters and their difficulties in disregarding the past. Lord Merridith and his family board the titular ship in 1847, bound for New York, leaving behind an Ireland devastated by famine and strife. The family's beautiful nanny, Mary Duane, is with them, having fled a life of poverty, prostitution, and extreme tragedy. Another passenger, American journalist Grantley Dixon, is lured to America by business and his thinly veiled affair with Lady Merridith. Mary Duane discovers that Pius Mulvey, her former fiancé and the brother of her deceased husband, is among the overcrowded group of disease-ridden steerage passengers. A renowned thief and murderer, Mulvey abandoned Duane, only to return and sabotage her life in Ireland. Despised by his countrymen, Mulvey has been ordered by a group of steerage thugs to assassinate the demonized Merridith or face his own death. <p> Conflict is inevitable, but O'Connor is more interested in the complexity of history and relationships and how each makes reinvention and resolution impossible. O'Connor presents the story as a work of journalism written by Dixon, composed in the era's tabloid style, even including passages from the captain's register and crew interviews. These devices lend the work a sense of authenticity, reinforced by the author's intimate knowledge of the period and his evocative, realistic prose: "At night one sensed the ship as absurdly out of its element, a creaking, leaking, incompetent concoction of oak and pitch and nails and faith, bobbing on a wilderness of viciously black water which could explode at the slightest provocation." O'Connor conveys a sense of immediacy and dimension in his ambitious story, providing this uncertain voyage with an ultimate sense of direction. <I>--Ross Doll</I> 950187 2003 Star of the Sea total:462|5:134|4:170|3:115|2:36|1:7| 462 1774 681 88 4 1 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun May 13 13:48:46 -0700 2007 Sat Sep 15 13:59:16 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 12:51:11 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 21 14:22:50 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 2 false false Sun Nov 02 07:31:42 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 18 17:40:02 -0800 2008 Star of the Sea is a gripping tale of murder, revenge, cruelty and love set against the backdrop of The Famine. It's so well written that the complex structure of the book seems natural and the shifting perspecti...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 12 05:06:14 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 12 05:06:29 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Fri Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Mon Jun 11 16:18:36 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 16:22:26 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Aug 12 09:31:53 -0700 2007 Sun Aug 12 09:31:53 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu May 15 15:44:48 -0700 2008 Thu May 15 15:50:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jan 18 12:09:42 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 15:51:50 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 2 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 31 05:36:01 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 31 05:39:51 -0700 2007 A very intersting narrative style too which helped keep the historical context alive as well as illustrations from the time period.]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 07:12:28 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 16 07:12:28 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 11 22:38:36 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 21:28:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false true Tue Dec 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 09 14:45:35 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 14:58:14 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jun 13 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 08 01:04:52 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 00:53:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Mar 25 18:23:20 -0700 2009 Wed Mar 25 18:27:46 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 22 21:23:40 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 10:31:23 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 21:23:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 04:54:25 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 03 04:21:51 -0700 2008
Traveli...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 29 09:22:04 -0800 2008 Tue Apr 01 09:35:09 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 13 08:12:43 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 23:46:23 -0700 2007
The social commentary aspe...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue May 29 14:03:40 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 12 13:16:44 -0700 2007 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 intertwin...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 24 22:45:49 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 24 23:11:19 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=147848