Avec Chimères, Nuala O'Faolain confirme son formidable talent de conteuse. Quand elle s'empare du destin de Kathleen de Burca, rentrée en Irlande p...
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Aug 03, 2011
Knitme23
rated it: 
I have read her first book, a memoir, and then Julie sent me "My Dream of You" in the Bodacious Box of Books, and I loved it. It's long, and starts pretty slowly, seeming like one of those novels in which the main character keeps doing dumb and self-destructive things again, again, and again. . . but then it had bolts of humor, and some characters who offered insight and common sense, and the main character seemed to be growing and learning from her dumb actions, and I ended up reading
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Mar 27, 2011
Anne
rated it: 
I did not like anything about this book. The author tried to make a connection between two women: one a current day woman who sleeps around, and the other a woman from the Irish gentry in the 1850's that according to court records had an affair. The modern day woman couldn't keep herself from sleeping with anyone, literally and frequently. A possibility that there could be any connection between these two women is extremely remote; yet, the author kept insisting there was. Frankly, I wonder how
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Apr 15, 2010
Layered and atmospheric,
this book relates, within the context of an historical divorce case, the tragic life of the Irish country people during what is euphemistically called "The Potato Famine", but was actually a form of genocide manipulated by the English aristocracy, as well as a modern writer's struggle with the emotional emptiness of her own life.
Ms. O'Faolain's honesty in portraying women's sexuality is also refreshing.
The painful loneliness that her semi-au More...
this book relates, within the context of an historical divorce case, the tragic life of the Irish country people during what is euphemistically called "The Potato Famine", but was actually a form of genocide manipulated by the English aristocracy, as well as a modern writer's struggle with the emotional emptiness of her own life.
Ms. O'Faolain's honesty in portraying women's sexuality is also refreshing.
The painful loneliness that her semi-au More...
Mar 10, 2009
Dwhren
rated it: 
I really only picked this book up because I was running out of the books I brought on vacation with me and someone left it in our villa. It seemed like it was my best option among the Da Vinci Code and James Patterson type books that abounded. After finishing Prep I was not in the mood for another book about a woman with no self-esteem and that you really just couldn't get behind because her actions were so self-destructive for no apparent reason. Unfortunately that is what I got. This book
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Jul 31, 2011
Marguerite
rated it:
This is one of two books by journalists I read this week. This book can't be easily pigeonholed, which might put off some readers. But it appealed to me, maybe even more, because of its ambiguity. The novel tells the tale of Kathleen de Burca, an Irish-born travel writer coming to grips with her terrible past in midlife while she tries to chase down the true story of adultery among the aristocracy during the famine. Kathleen's desire to understand passion, and its absence, leads her to reflect o
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Mar 06, 2008
Suzanne
rated it:
This book was lent to me by my daughter and I really wanted to like it. It is well-written and believable but somehow I found myself disliking the author, and that impacted my appreciation of the story. I surprised myself because I found that I was passing judgement...which is not a good thing. AAGH! Despite my experience I think it is worthwhile and something that women who choose "the road not taken" would really enjoy.
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Apr 30, 2009
Christie
rated it:
This book wasn't at all what I thought it would be, but it drew me in because the writing was so beautiful. It took me a while to get into the book, but once I was over a hundred pages into it, I became totally intrigued. First of all, I love the way the author descibes Ireland, how beautiful it is, how scenic. And I love the details about the Famine, and how the author weaves past and present together in the text. This story is about a woman who finally decides to confront her past, and who ope
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Aug 01, 2011
I thought I had read a Nuala O'Faolain novel years ago, and it wasn't until page 284 that I realized it was this one. That's not a ringing endorsement considering that I remembered nothing of the story except an interesting sex scene that involved dentures (or the lack of them). This novel is a very in-depth character study of Kathleen as she returns to her homeland and relives her past while investigating a historical female figure. Although I got a little tired of Kathleen, she really did w
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Feb 11, 2009
Maggi
rated it:
Well. She is now dead, so this was a sad read. She is probably my favorite author ever. If by favorite you mean an author you regret that you never had the chance to meet. I think she would have been a great dinner companion, hike companion. But I do think she was very conflicted about desire and physical love. Maybe that's from the perspective of being married now, but some of the stuff she let herself get into are - what's the word - sad? confusing? un-empowered? I mean I know you can learn so
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Aug 02, 2009
When I first picked up this book in 2001, I could here Nuala O'Faolain's lilting brogue coming through the pages. She has such a command of the Irish vernacular. And the story is interwoven with the main character's research on a love affair between two unlikely people at the end of the potato famine. O'Faolain takes you there, and also to contemporary Ireland, and weaves the stories together, in the voice of a travel writer who as she searches for something personal.If you get a chance, and per
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May 13, 2008
Meghan
rated it: 
Powerful. I was moved by this book so much I wrote a poem about it.
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Jan 11, 2009
Faith
rated it:
My Dream of You is yet an other great book about Ireland. 49-year-old travel writer Kathleen de Burca returns to her native Ireland to make up with her past. In the book there are kind of three parallell stories: Kathleens present, Kathleens past and the Talbot Judgement, a true story about Marianne Talbot who was accused for adultry in the 1850s after the famine (the time when the potatoes faled Ireland). I suppose the point with having the Talbot Judgement in the book is that it shows that the
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Aug 05, 2011
Hasan
rated it:
The only redeeming feature of this book, written by Irish Author Nuala O’Falain, is that it frequently bad mouths the English and blames them for most every problem in Ireland. The story follows the life of Irish travel writer Kathleen de Burca who lives in London. She left Ireland swearing to never go back, but of course she returns and faces all the things she left behind. The story had occasional interesting moments, but not enough of them to keep me interested. I only finished the book
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Jan 29, 2012
Géraldine
rated it:
Je qualifierai ce livre de différent et non pas de chef d'œuvre. Ce qui m'a plu est l'impression de spontanéité, de sincérité de l'auteur, sincérité mêlée de retenue, et de réflexions personnelles qui portent à croire que le récit est autobiographique. Tout ça fait qu'à la lecture je me suis sentie assez proche de l'auteur bien que nous n'ayons rien en commun (ni l'âge, ni l'origine, ni la profession). J'y ai trouvé un côté universel.
Le parallèle entre la vie du personnage et la vie More...
Le parallèle entre la vie du personnage et la vie More...
Jun 25, 2011
Laura
rated it:
The book interrelates the historical past, personal memories and Katherine’s current life. I was impressed with the books ability to take events from these three times to explore love, particularly romantic love. Katherine – the main character – prefers passionate love over daily prosaic love. She examines each relationship that is in her life hoping to find examples of passionate love. Her journey is constantly disappointed. Sometimes the love stories are brutal and oppressive. Her boyfri
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Feb 03, 2012
Kim
rated it:
I listened to this book, rather than reading it, which I think made it more palatable. My Dream of You introduces Kathleen, who left Ireland for England as a teenager and hasn't been back since. She is in her 50s and her life looks successful enough - she is a travel writer - but she is still unhappy and without a lover. She finds a story of a British woman being banished from Ireland and divorced by her landed and titled husband during the famine, because she had an affair with an Irish servant
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Jan 31, 2010
Miette
rated it:
I found this book a bit uneven but there were parts that I loved, and although I felt sorry for the narrator, she seemed to have reached a positive point in her life at the end of the book. Some of the Marianne story dragged a bit for me but in the end I enjoyed making comparisons between the lives of Kathy and Marianne. Characters like Bertie, Miss Leech and Annie were drawn effectively and they really appealed to me as real people. The edition of the book I read has reviews of O'Faolain's memo
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Jul 25, 2009
Diane
rated it:
A good book for me to read because I was so engaged in the story - my reactions to the protagonist Caitlin kept changing. At first I did not like her - she was jaded, sardonic, superficial, everything about "modern" that I do not like. But as she travels back to Ireland and tries to write the story of a local divorce scandal that happened in the mid-19th century, Caitlin begins to reconnect with her past, her country, and her self. I felt a bit like a psychiatrist hearing and watching
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Aug 06, 2008
Suz
rated it:
This was a little jaggedly written and uneven--as sometimes happens with an author's first novel. It seems like the author tried to accomplish too much in one story.
Nevertheless I was profoundly touched by this book. So much so that I have reserved books at the library on the Famine. It left such an indelible mark on the Irish psyche that, for sure, it still lingers today even in the attitudes and emotional character of Irish Americans (and Irish who settled elsewhere).
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Nevertheless I was profoundly touched by this book. So much so that I have reserved books at the library on the Famine. It left such an indelible mark on the Irish psyche that, for sure, it still lingers today even in the attitudes and emotional character of Irish Americans (and Irish who settled elsewhere).
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May 19, 2008
Chris
rated it:
A travel writer having a bit of a mid-life crisis decides on a change of pace and a visit back home to Ireland, a place she swore she'd never return to. She goes to research an affair between a lady and servent in the 1800s during the famine. She has little to go on, but thinks there might be something there. She's drawn to the story both because a part of her relates and also because she's searching for and trying to believe in passionate love, something she had never known.
The story f More...
The story f More...
Dec 28, 2008
Elizabeth
rated it:
I am almost done with my reading tribute to Nuala O'Faolain. I did not like this book (her attempt at fiction) because it was written in first person and I knew so many of the similarities to her real life from reading her second memoir, "Almost There". Also, for me, there were far too many subplots and so much left hanging. I was intrigued by the true story of a relationship between a female British aristocrat and a male Irish servant during the Potato Famine. But even that was disa
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Jan 29, 2008
Julia
rated it:
I absolutely loved this book. I was compelled by the subject matter, being a single woman, though only in my twenties--it's about a women in her forties (or fifties? can't remember), never married, who starts examining her life after the death of a friend and ends up returning to Ireland and memories of the family and childhood she ran away from at 17. I loved the character for her entirely normal yet revolutionary life--I've never read a novel before that focused on a modern single woman in suc
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Dec 04, 2007
Stephanie "Jedigal"
rated it:
I read this b/c it was a selection for my book club. Initially I thought it was going to be yet another "women's interest" book, probably (or at least hopefully) an enjoyable read, but nothing of lasting importance to me. Well, I am happy to say, I was very wrong. Oh, this book definitely will appeal mostly to women. But for excellent reason.
The narrator, Kathleen de Burca, is a single woman around age 50, who fled Ireland and her family after high school, for an England s More...
The narrator, Kathleen de Burca, is a single woman around age 50, who fled Ireland and her family after high school, for an England s More...
Nov 25, 2007
Johnsergeant
rated it:
Downloaded from Audible.com
Narrator: Dearbhla Molloy
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2001
Length: 6 hours and 16 min. (abridged)
Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration, 2002
Publisher's Summary
Kathleen de Burca is a travel writer based in London. The office is the nearest thing she has to a home. When a quick series of blows strips away the props of her life, she is faced with the frightening imperative of change.
In her crisis she deci More...
Narrator: Dearbhla Molloy
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio, 2001
Length: 6 hours and 16 min. (abridged)
Audie Award Winner, Solo Narration, 2002
Publisher's Summary
Kathleen de Burca is a travel writer based in London. The office is the nearest thing she has to a home. When a quick series of blows strips away the props of her life, she is faced with the frightening imperative of change.
In her crisis she deci More...
Jul 21, 2008
Suzanne
rated it:
O'Faolain takes her time in this wonderfully written novel that unfurls at its own pace. Although it is 530 pages, I read it in a week because it drew me in. The central character is a 50-yr old Irish woman who has spent the last 30 years living in London. She abandoned her dying mother and siblings in Ireland, disgusted with the treatment of women in that country and with her father's coldness. Her new life as a travel writer in London is a solitary and roaming existence. The death of her only
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Apr 04, 2007
Angela Dawn
rated it:
Layered and atmospheric,
this book relates, within the context of an historical divorce case, the tragic life of the Irish country people during what is euphemistically called "The Potato Famine", but was actually a form of genocide manipulated by the English aristocracy, as well as a writer's struggle with the emotional emptiness of her own life.
Ms. O'Faolain's honesty in portraying women's sexuality is also refreshing.
The painful loneliness that her semi-autobiogra More...
this book relates, within the context of an historical divorce case, the tragic life of the Irish country people during what is euphemistically called "The Potato Famine", but was actually a form of genocide manipulated by the English aristocracy, as well as a writer's struggle with the emotional emptiness of her own life.
Ms. O'Faolain's honesty in portraying women's sexuality is also refreshing.
The painful loneliness that her semi-autobiogra More...
Apr 18, 2007
Kirsten
rated it: 
This book is long and subtle, therefore fairly slow, but not in a necessarily unpleasant way. It is really two stories intertwined about a lonely 50 year old Irish woman who leaves her home in London when a close friend dies. She returns to her homeland with the goal of writing a book about an ancient divorce proceeding--The Talbot Story. The Talbot portion of the book centers on an adultery case during the time of the Famine. What appears to be certain, in truth is far more complicated. I find
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Sep 08, 2010
Kathy
rated it:
Beautiful writer. The method used to write this particular book drove me nuts however. I suspect partly because the ending left so very many loose ends. And it was maddening to read—I thought she’d never get to the point. I almost stopped reading before I finished, it drove me so nuts!
There were so many subplots and so much backtracking to relate the history of each subplot and naturally none of the backtracking was in any particular order.
But, O’Failon does use words More...
There were so many subplots and so much backtracking to relate the history of each subplot and naturally none of the backtracking was in any particular order.
But, O’Failon does use words More...
Nov 28, 2010
Pat
rated it:
A woman on the brink of mid-life with a passion for travel and the occasional bedmate along the way. Love this gutsy
independent woman who makes no excuses for her choices in this her life's journey. She may be alone but she is by not means forgettable. It is through the story within the story that we truly come to know Kathleen as she unravels the mystery behind a divorce case over 150 years before--delving into what she believes to be the love story that prevailed.
independent woman who makes no excuses for her choices in this her life's journey. She may be alone but she is by not means forgettable. It is through the story within the story that we truly come to know Kathleen as she unravels the mystery behind a divorce case over 150 years before--delving into what she believes to be the love story that prevailed.
Feb 15, 2009
Christian
rated it:
Gut, das Erzählte ist teilweise interessant, aber: Wer möchte so ein Leben gelebt haben? So unheimlich naiv?! Was man schon lange vorher merkt, wird erst auf Seite 172 kommentiert.
Für diejenigen, denen die Autorin ein Begriff ist, könnte das Buch empfehlenswert sein, für alle anderen eher nicht. Für mich eins der Bücher, die ganz schön waren, weil insbesondere dieses so ein lockeres Leben vermittelte, die ich aber nicht zwingend gelesen haben müsste.
Für diejenigen, denen die Autorin ein Begriff ist, könnte das Buch empfehlenswert sein, für alle anderen eher nicht. Für mich eins der Bücher, die ganz schön waren, weil insbesondere dieses so ein lockeres Leben vermittelte, die ich aber nicht zwingend gelesen haben müsste.
