What do you think?
Rate this book
The Flight of the Wren
Ireland, 1848.
Orphaned Sally Mahon has a choice to make. Lie down and die on the graves of her parents, or join the throngs of the dispossessed on the highways of Ireland. She turns her steps to the nearby town of Newbridge in Kildare, where she will carve a future for herself or die trying.
Tasmania, 1919.
Spanish Flu sweeps through Hobart, travelling across the oceans with the soldiers returning from the war in Europe. Saoirse Gordon sits by her Grandmother’s sickbed. As the old woman cries out in her delirium, will the secrets Saoirse learns bring her peace, or destroy her forever? Have her Grandmother, her great-aunt and her mother been lying to her all her life? Saoirse races against time, and her grandmother’s illness, to unravel the secrets of her family.
Inspired by true events, the tales of real Irish women and girls weave throughout this poignant blend of fact and fiction. The Flight of the Wren explores the impact of the Irish famine of 1845-1849 on the women of Ireland. Acts of desperation, betrayal, courage and love illuminate this dark chapter of Ireland’s history in a complex and beautiful novel. Winner of the Cecil Day Lewis award 2016 and joint winner of the Greenbean Novel Fair 2016 at the Irish Writers Centre.
Orphaned Sally Mahon has a choice to make. Lie down and die on the graves of her parents, or join the throngs of the dispossessed on the highways of Ireland. She turns her steps to the nearby town of Newbridge in Kildare, where she will carve a future for herself or die trying.
Tasmania, 1919.
Spanish Flu sweeps through Hobart, travelling across the oceans with the soldiers returning from the war in Europe. Saoirse Gordon sits by her Grandmother’s sickbed. As the old woman cries out in her delirium, will the secrets Saoirse learns bring her peace, or destroy her forever? Have her Grandmother, her great-aunt and her mother been lying to her all her life? Saoirse races against time, and her grandmother’s illness, to unravel the secrets of her family.
Inspired by true events, the tales of real Irish women and girls weave throughout this poignant blend of fact and fiction. The Flight of the Wren explores the impact of the Irish famine of 1845-1849 on the women of Ireland. Acts of desperation, betrayal, courage and love illuminate this dark chapter of Ireland’s history in a complex and beautiful novel. Winner of the Cecil Day Lewis award 2016 and joint winner of the Greenbean Novel Fair 2016 at the Irish Writers Centre.
300 pages, Paperback
First published September 10, 2018
20 people are currently reading
325 people want to read
About the author
Orla McAlinden
8 books25 followersOrla McAlinden is an emerging voice in Irish writing.
Her first book, The Accidental Wife, won the 2014 Eludia Prize from Hidden River Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and is published on their Sowilo Press imprint. Martina Devlin, Northern Irish author of 20 novels, including The House Where it Happened, has described Orla's work as "visceral and authentic" and Anthony J Quinn, king of Northern Irish Noir says she displays a "remarkably mature depth of voice and narrative range".
Orla was sent to school at three years old, to prevent her from falling out of any more windows, and she has had a book in her hand ever since. She reads widely, with a strong emphasis on Irish authors, and regrets the time spent eating and sleeping, which interferes with her reading.
Orla's new novel, The Flight of the Wren (coming soon) won the Cecil Day Lewis Emerging Writer Award from the Arts Service of Kildare County, Ireland, where she currently lives with her husband, four young children and dog.
Her first book, The Accidental Wife, won the 2014 Eludia Prize from Hidden River Arts in Philadelphia, PA, and is published on their Sowilo Press imprint. Martina Devlin, Northern Irish author of 20 novels, including The House Where it Happened, has described Orla's work as "visceral and authentic" and Anthony J Quinn, king of Northern Irish Noir says she displays a "remarkably mature depth of voice and narrative range".
Orla was sent to school at three years old, to prevent her from falling out of any more windows, and she has had a book in her hand ever since. She reads widely, with a strong emphasis on Irish authors, and regrets the time spent eating and sleeping, which interferes with her reading.
Orla's new novel, The Flight of the Wren (coming soon) won the Cecil Day Lewis Emerging Writer Award from the Arts Service of Kildare County, Ireland, where she currently lives with her husband, four young children and dog.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
November 5, 2018
The Great Famine was a disaster that happened in Ireland between 1845 and about 1851, resulting in the deaths of about 1 million people and the flight or emigration of up to 2.5 million more over the course of about six years.
The cause of the Great Famine was the failure of the potato crop, especially in 1845 and 1846, as a result of the attack of the fungus known as the potato blight. The potato was the staple food of the Irish rural poor in the mid nineteenth century and its failure left millions exposed to starvation and death from sickness and malnutrition
image:
The Flight of the Wren is a fictional account inspired by true events, a thought provoking dark and gritty read that takes the reader back to famine times in Ireland 1845-1849 and focus on a young 14 year old girl called Sally Mahon who is orphaned and alone after the death of her parents. The famine has claimed many of her relations and neighbours and Sally takes a lonely journey to Newbridge in Kildare where she has heard the English Army Barracks might have work for a young girl and is her only option in order to avoid the dreaded workhouse.
image:
This isn't a history of the Irish famine and we are not bombarded by facts and figures but rather a thought provoking novel and I really enjoyed the human element of this story and yet Orla McAlinden doesn't shy away from the hardships and bleakness of the time and creates a tale that is vivid and heart-breaking.
I haven't read this authors work before and was intrigued when I picked this book up as the Irish famine is an important and sensitive time in Irish history and while I have read a few books on the subject, I enjoyed this authors storytelling as she depicts the hunger, the tragedy of the times and yet the resilience of the women and this wasn't an element of famine that I had read before. The characters are well drawn and I found myself immersed in their stories and lives. This isn't an Irish fairy tale but rather a tragic and moving story that takes us back a time in Irish history that many people with Irish ancestors in England, America, Canada or Australia might well have trace their roots back to.
The cause of the Great Famine was the failure of the potato crop, especially in 1845 and 1846, as a result of the attack of the fungus known as the potato blight. The potato was the staple food of the Irish rural poor in the mid nineteenth century and its failure left millions exposed to starvation and death from sickness and malnutrition
image:
The Flight of the Wren is a fictional account inspired by true events, a thought provoking dark and gritty read that takes the reader back to famine times in Ireland 1845-1849 and focus on a young 14 year old girl called Sally Mahon who is orphaned and alone after the death of her parents. The famine has claimed many of her relations and neighbours and Sally takes a lonely journey to Newbridge in Kildare where she has heard the English Army Barracks might have work for a young girl and is her only option in order to avoid the dreaded workhouse.
image:
This isn't a history of the Irish famine and we are not bombarded by facts and figures but rather a thought provoking novel and I really enjoyed the human element of this story and yet Orla McAlinden doesn't shy away from the hardships and bleakness of the time and creates a tale that is vivid and heart-breaking.
I haven't read this authors work before and was intrigued when I picked this book up as the Irish famine is an important and sensitive time in Irish history and while I have read a few books on the subject, I enjoyed this authors storytelling as she depicts the hunger, the tragedy of the times and yet the resilience of the women and this wasn't an element of famine that I had read before. The characters are well drawn and I found myself immersed in their stories and lives. This isn't an Irish fairy tale but rather a tragic and moving story that takes us back a time in Irish history that many people with Irish ancestors in England, America, Canada or Australia might well have trace their roots back to.
December 5, 2018
Tender intimate storytelling!!!
... Irish famine was a period of great hunger - starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1945 and 1949.
Author Orla McAlinden opened my eyes to what ‘women’ went through during this very dark time in history. It wasn’t pretty ...
but this novel reminds me that we have had brave courageous women - as far back as the beginning of time.
... Irish famine was a period of great hunger - starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1945 and 1949.
Author Orla McAlinden opened my eyes to what ‘women’ went through during this very dark time in history. It wasn’t pretty ...
but this novel reminds me that we have had brave courageous women - as far back as the beginning of time.
October 3, 2018
I love historical fiction but I despise it when it contains sugary romances. I really hoped this wasn't going to be a story about a prostitute having a hard life and then meeting her Prince Charming and living happily ever after. It does contain plenty of evidence of a harsh life and while there is some happiness, it didn't necessarily come easy. But that's enough of the near spoilers - suffice to say, there is plenty of gritty realism in this novel that will make you gulp but it also reflects on the extreme poverty of the time and shows just what people had to do to survive.
This novel is well researched. I found myself wondering 'did this really happen on the emigrant ships?' and then just knowing that the portrayal was as accurate as it possibly could be.
This is a really important novel. Over twenty years ago, I did a dissertation on female sexuality in the 19th century and had included details of the Wrens and the Contagious Diseases Acts. Most material on the wrens was written by men, it was almost impossible to find anything written by women let alone hoping that the wrens themselves might have left some testimonies as to how they felt about their lives. I hope this novel achieves a wide readership as it is fully deserved. It's an important part of Irish history told within fiction as women like Sally, like Patsy, like Peggy, like Nellie Gordon - they all existed and some survived and prospered.
This novel is well researched. I found myself wondering 'did this really happen on the emigrant ships?' and then just knowing that the portrayal was as accurate as it possibly could be.
This is a really important novel. Over twenty years ago, I did a dissertation on female sexuality in the 19th century and had included details of the Wrens and the Contagious Diseases Acts. Most material on the wrens was written by men, it was almost impossible to find anything written by women let alone hoping that the wrens themselves might have left some testimonies as to how they felt about their lives. I hope this novel achieves a wide readership as it is fully deserved. It's an important part of Irish history told within fiction as women like Sally, like Patsy, like Peggy, like Nellie Gordon - they all existed and some survived and prospered.
September 27, 2018
My Rating 4.5*
Inspired by true events, The Flight of the Wren is a novel by Orla McAlinden and is just published by Red Stag (Mentor Books Ltd). Mixing fact with fiction, this novel, for me, was an education into the hardships and challenges faced with courage by an incredible bunch of women.
I am Irish. The stories of the terrible Famine that darkened our beautiful country from 1845-1849 were part of my childhood education. I have strong memories from my history class of a sketched image of a woman, huddled and bent over, wearing a threadbare shawl, with a look of pure anguish on her face. We were told the horror stories but they always felt a little distant, tales from another time. Orla McAlinden has taken the stories of some of the women of this god-forsaken time and brought the past right into our present with her fascinating book The Flight of the Wren.
The story takes place seamlessly between two timelines and two continents. 1848 and Sally Mahon is orphaned, abandoned and left to die on her parents grave, without a single soul to care for her left. With nothing to eat but a few nettles and the grass on the side of the ditch, Sally heads in the direction of Newbridge, Co. Kildare., where there is an English army Barracks and where she might source a little work and food. At only fourteen years of age Sally knows that the workhouse is an option but Sally always remembers her father saying that ‘he’d rather die than go to the workhouse’. Sally has greater hopes for herself than dying abandoned and starved in the over-populated buildings of these institutions, but after arriving in Newbridge, she realises that all is not as she had hoped.
There is plenty of work for women/girls in Newbridge but just not the type of work that Sally wishes to do. Prostitution is rife and soon Sally discovers, the soldiers treat these women with disrespect and shocking levels of violence.
Outside Newbridge, Sally becomes acquainted with the wrens ‘a class of wild woman, who lived close by on the broad expanse of the Curragh plain. They lived in groups and they sheltered under the roofs of the broad-glowing furze bushes, like the little birds from whom they took their name.’ One in particular, who went by the name of Nellie Gordon, literally took Sally under her wing, for better or worse, taking Sally on a journey across the seas that changed the course of her life forever.
1919 and a grandchild sits with her grandmother, keeping her company as her days come to an end. The Spanish Flu rages through Hobart on the the island of Tasmania, formerly Van Diemen’s Land. Saoirse Gordon watches on as her grandmother slips in and out of consciousness but Saoirse also listens to her grandmother’s words as secrets from her past are revealed. Saoirse is frightened and horrified by the stories her grandmother tells, making Saoirse question everything she has known to be the truth. As her grandmother’s story unfolds, the reader is transported onto the ships that sailed from Ireland to Van Diemen’s land, taking the native Irish to a new land, to work in servitude for a number of years before being granted their freedom.
Orla McAlinden describes, in quite graphic detail, the panic, the fear, the sickness, the hardship and the bravery of a bunch of women who’s story is almost incredible to read. Not for the faint-hearted, the stomach-churning scenes that Orla McAlinden writes about are portrayed so vividly that I was appalled and horrified, yet compelled to continue reading.
The Flight of the Wren is history brought to life. It is a time in Ireland’s history when our population was torn asunder and forced emigration on penal ships was an acceptable practice. With the country in the midst of starvation, many folk deliberately carried out a crime to board these ships, seeing it as a way out, the only way to survive. What would drive someone to this? How, as a society, did we (and still do) allow a populace to be forced out of it’s homeland?
The Flight of the Wren, though a fictional account, is a very thought-provoking read, at times challenging, yet also very moving. The plight of Sally Mahon was not unique but Orla McAlinden makes her story so vivid and so absorbing, one would almost think it an actual account of true events.
In reading Orla McAlinden’s previous work, The Accidental Wife, I said that Orla wrote with passion, truth and honesty and the same words apply to this book. There is an earthy and raw candor to the narrative that inspires confidence in the writing. Orla McAlinden is an intriguing writer with a very original and unique style. A recommendation for all with an interest in history, in particular in the history of Ireland.
Compelling. Challenging. Impassioned.
Inspired by true events, The Flight of the Wren is a novel by Orla McAlinden and is just published by Red Stag (Mentor Books Ltd). Mixing fact with fiction, this novel, for me, was an education into the hardships and challenges faced with courage by an incredible bunch of women.
I am Irish. The stories of the terrible Famine that darkened our beautiful country from 1845-1849 were part of my childhood education. I have strong memories from my history class of a sketched image of a woman, huddled and bent over, wearing a threadbare shawl, with a look of pure anguish on her face. We were told the horror stories but they always felt a little distant, tales from another time. Orla McAlinden has taken the stories of some of the women of this god-forsaken time and brought the past right into our present with her fascinating book The Flight of the Wren.
The story takes place seamlessly between two timelines and two continents. 1848 and Sally Mahon is orphaned, abandoned and left to die on her parents grave, without a single soul to care for her left. With nothing to eat but a few nettles and the grass on the side of the ditch, Sally heads in the direction of Newbridge, Co. Kildare., where there is an English army Barracks and where she might source a little work and food. At only fourteen years of age Sally knows that the workhouse is an option but Sally always remembers her father saying that ‘he’d rather die than go to the workhouse’. Sally has greater hopes for herself than dying abandoned and starved in the over-populated buildings of these institutions, but after arriving in Newbridge, she realises that all is not as she had hoped.
There is plenty of work for women/girls in Newbridge but just not the type of work that Sally wishes to do. Prostitution is rife and soon Sally discovers, the soldiers treat these women with disrespect and shocking levels of violence.
Outside Newbridge, Sally becomes acquainted with the wrens ‘a class of wild woman, who lived close by on the broad expanse of the Curragh plain. They lived in groups and they sheltered under the roofs of the broad-glowing furze bushes, like the little birds from whom they took their name.’ One in particular, who went by the name of Nellie Gordon, literally took Sally under her wing, for better or worse, taking Sally on a journey across the seas that changed the course of her life forever.
1919 and a grandchild sits with her grandmother, keeping her company as her days come to an end. The Spanish Flu rages through Hobart on the the island of Tasmania, formerly Van Diemen’s Land. Saoirse Gordon watches on as her grandmother slips in and out of consciousness but Saoirse also listens to her grandmother’s words as secrets from her past are revealed. Saoirse is frightened and horrified by the stories her grandmother tells, making Saoirse question everything she has known to be the truth. As her grandmother’s story unfolds, the reader is transported onto the ships that sailed from Ireland to Van Diemen’s land, taking the native Irish to a new land, to work in servitude for a number of years before being granted their freedom.
Orla McAlinden describes, in quite graphic detail, the panic, the fear, the sickness, the hardship and the bravery of a bunch of women who’s story is almost incredible to read. Not for the faint-hearted, the stomach-churning scenes that Orla McAlinden writes about are portrayed so vividly that I was appalled and horrified, yet compelled to continue reading.
The Flight of the Wren is history brought to life. It is a time in Ireland’s history when our population was torn asunder and forced emigration on penal ships was an acceptable practice. With the country in the midst of starvation, many folk deliberately carried out a crime to board these ships, seeing it as a way out, the only way to survive. What would drive someone to this? How, as a society, did we (and still do) allow a populace to be forced out of it’s homeland?
The Flight of the Wren, though a fictional account, is a very thought-provoking read, at times challenging, yet also very moving. The plight of Sally Mahon was not unique but Orla McAlinden makes her story so vivid and so absorbing, one would almost think it an actual account of true events.
In reading Orla McAlinden’s previous work, The Accidental Wife, I said that Orla wrote with passion, truth and honesty and the same words apply to this book. There is an earthy and raw candor to the narrative that inspires confidence in the writing. Orla McAlinden is an intriguing writer with a very original and unique style. A recommendation for all with an interest in history, in particular in the history of Ireland.
Compelling. Challenging. Impassioned.
September 12, 2018
The Flight of the Wren begins as the promising story of a young teenager. Sally is left alone in the world by her parents' death and is shunned by neighbours and friends. Terrified of the disease and hunger raging through every townland in Ireland, everyone clings to vain hopes of protecting their own.
I was immediately drawn to Sally, an intelligent, innocent and determined girl, who very quickly has to decide whether to succumb to almost inevitable starvation and death, or to overcome her heartbreak and terror, striking out for life beyond the parish – her only hope of survival (“Two emotions fought for ascendance. Grief will not wait, but neither will hunger”).
What unfolds is a beautiful tale of love and loss; of trust and betrayal, and of lessons learned. But this is no run-of-the-mill Irish family saga pivoting around emigration. Set against the backdrop of the Great Irish Famine, Sally’s life unfolds to reveal the true story of the Wrens of the Curragh; women driven by necessity to extraordinary lengths of ingenuity, courage, and emotional strength. Women whose story had been all but forgotten. Until now.
The Flight of the Wren kept me on my toes, moving fluidly between Sally’s early years and old age. Gradually and cleverly, the author takes us with Sally, Patsy and Nellie, through summary justice in nineteenth century Irish courts, and onward to a gruelling, brutal and sometimes hilarious voyage to Van Diemen’s Land, thus revealing a remarkable corner of Irish history through truly believable and complex female characters.
McAlinden’s delightful language and irreverent humour makes for an historical page-turner that teaches us a lot about our past and about human nature, but never makes us feel like we're back in a classroom - quite a feat.
Settle down - you will want to read this little beauty in one long, blissful sitting.
I was immediately drawn to Sally, an intelligent, innocent and determined girl, who very quickly has to decide whether to succumb to almost inevitable starvation and death, or to overcome her heartbreak and terror, striking out for life beyond the parish – her only hope of survival (“Two emotions fought for ascendance. Grief will not wait, but neither will hunger”).
What unfolds is a beautiful tale of love and loss; of trust and betrayal, and of lessons learned. But this is no run-of-the-mill Irish family saga pivoting around emigration. Set against the backdrop of the Great Irish Famine, Sally’s life unfolds to reveal the true story of the Wrens of the Curragh; women driven by necessity to extraordinary lengths of ingenuity, courage, and emotional strength. Women whose story had been all but forgotten. Until now.
The Flight of the Wren kept me on my toes, moving fluidly between Sally’s early years and old age. Gradually and cleverly, the author takes us with Sally, Patsy and Nellie, through summary justice in nineteenth century Irish courts, and onward to a gruelling, brutal and sometimes hilarious voyage to Van Diemen’s Land, thus revealing a remarkable corner of Irish history through truly believable and complex female characters.
McAlinden’s delightful language and irreverent humour makes for an historical page-turner that teaches us a lot about our past and about human nature, but never makes us feel like we're back in a classroom - quite a feat.
Settle down - you will want to read this little beauty in one long, blissful sitting.
November 21, 2018
This is a beautifully written and important book. Sally Mahon is our guide through the atrocities of the Irish famine and its aftermath. The attention to detail is impeccable, the research faultless. But mostly this a wonderful read. It highlights the plight of women during the famine, the awfulness, and injustice heaped upon an already horrific existence. The worst and the best of humanity is on display throughout. Sally (together with the other, mostly female characters )fight and connive to survive, escape a brutalizing life, the workhouse and finally endure the nightmarish journey to freedom.
This is a great book, despite the tough subject, it sings along at a gallop, and was an absolute pleasure to read.
I look forward to reading more of Orla Mcalinden’s superb writing.
This is a great book, despite the tough subject, it sings along at a gallop, and was an absolute pleasure to read.
I look forward to reading more of Orla Mcalinden’s superb writing.
October 22, 2018
No other, of the several works of fiction and nonfiction I
have read on the Irish Famine Years (1845 to 1849) comes as close to capturing the lived experience of the Irish people than Orla McAliden’s darkly beautiful debut novel, The Flight of the Wren. The Wren were a group of several hundred Irish women driven by social devastation of the
famine to survive by prostituting themselves to the British soldiers stationed in Kildaire.
The novel is structured in a very interesting fashion. It begins in 1919 in Hobart, Australia, on the island of Tasmania, once known as Van Dieman’s Land. Saoirse, a young woman is at the bedside of her dying grandmother. They are at a prosperous inn owned by the q grandmother
which will become hers one day. She knows that what she has been told about her family history back in Ireland is not the truth. Before her grandmother passes, she wants to know her real family history. She fears everything upon which she has based her identity is a lie, a dark coverup.
Switching between Ireland and Australia and between 1848 and 1919, we vivaciously experience the horror of the
famine through the experiences of fourteen year old Sally MaHon. Sally’s parents have just died from what is called “road fever”. She has no one to turn to for help. She sleeps for a few days on her parents grave until she takes to the road to Kildare where she thinks she can find work at the large British Army garrison. She meets a very decent man who gives her a ride, some food, some advise and asks nothing in return. It felt good to see the decency of the
Irish has not been totally destroyed. When Sally reaches Kildare she meets
Nellie twenty six, a Wren, a woman living by sexually servicing the British soldiers. We witness horrifying scenes of starvation and degredation. Nellie comes up with a plot. Sally and her will commit arson in the hopes they will be transported to Australia. After a few years a woman is given her freedom. Women are in short supply. Nellie’s plan is to keep control of Sally in Australia, keep her a virgin and find her a rich
husband. Nellie will pose as her older sister and plans to live with Sally and her husband.
McAliden vividly shows us the horror of prison life. It was so scary when Sally goes in front of the judge. The longest part of the novel is devoted to the three month long boat trip from Ireland to Australia. There are lots of marvelous detail that brings the seemingly endless voyage to reality. Everything revolves around food.
I don’t want to tell more of the plot. Lots of great things happen and of course there is horror. I loved The Flight of the Wren. The characters are perfect, the desperate hunger speaks of deep cultural pain, the scenes in Australia, where Sally lived on for many years, tell us just enough to let us construct somethings for ourselves. We see how the famine brings out the worst and the best in people.
The Flight of the Wren is a brilliant work of historical fiction.
I give it my endorsement to all, especially those interested in Irish history or the early years of British Australia. It would make a wonderful movie.
August 20, 2019
4.5 stars
Tasmania, 1919. Sally glimpses her face in the mirror and knows she is dying: “the dusky hue of the crêpey skin . . . so different from the fine pale skin of healthy old age . . . I am drowning slowly, drowning blackly in my own dark fluids.” The Spanish influenza - or Black Death - has hitched a ride with returning soldiers, spreading like wildfire. As the disease takes hold, the memories flood back and seep out into the world she has created in Australasia; a world far away from the Great Hunger of Ireland.
King’s County, 1848. Fourteen-year-old Sally lies on the mound of her parent’s grave. Famine has decimated the country and she has nowhere to go. As she wanders the roads and fields, searching for food, she enters the world of the Curragh Wrens: women who have made lives in the bushes surrounding the army barracks, servicing soldiers in order to survive. This life is extremely harsh and dangerous and Sally sees transportation as the only option. McAlinden delivers historical fiction with a lyrical and haunting touch, bringing these forgotten Irish women back to life.
Tasmania, 1919. Sally glimpses her face in the mirror and knows she is dying: “the dusky hue of the crêpey skin . . . so different from the fine pale skin of healthy old age . . . I am drowning slowly, drowning blackly in my own dark fluids.” The Spanish influenza - or Black Death - has hitched a ride with returning soldiers, spreading like wildfire. As the disease takes hold, the memories flood back and seep out into the world she has created in Australasia; a world far away from the Great Hunger of Ireland.
King’s County, 1848. Fourteen-year-old Sally lies on the mound of her parent’s grave. Famine has decimated the country and she has nowhere to go. As she wanders the roads and fields, searching for food, she enters the world of the Curragh Wrens: women who have made lives in the bushes surrounding the army barracks, servicing soldiers in order to survive. This life is extremely harsh and dangerous and Sally sees transportation as the only option. McAlinden delivers historical fiction with a lyrical and haunting touch, bringing these forgotten Irish women back to life.
February 4, 2019
Orla McAlinden’s “The Flight of the Wren” is a masterpiece of historical fiction. Set during the Great Famine of the 1840s in Ireland, the author gives us a compelling tale of a teenage girl who must make gut-wrenching choices to survive while trying to preserve her humanity. The story has the sweep of an epic saga but its greatest strength lies in the author’s ability to explore her characters’ complex emotions, rubbed raw by starvation, abuse, imprisonment, and forced transportation across the seas to the British colony in Tasmania.
I’ve read histories of the Great Famine and the forced transportation, but none of those otherwise fine works fully prepared me for the depths of depravity and the heights of human courage revealed by this book. There are moments when you want to howl in protest at some turn of events and other moments when you want to let out a cheer.
The story is both a mystery and a thriller. Whenever you think you know what is going to happen next, the author surprises you with plot twists that are as credible as they are startling. My only regret upon finishing the book is it had to end. I hope the author will favor us with a sequel.
I’ve read histories of the Great Famine and the forced transportation, but none of those otherwise fine works fully prepared me for the depths of depravity and the heights of human courage revealed by this book. There are moments when you want to howl in protest at some turn of events and other moments when you want to let out a cheer.
The story is both a mystery and a thriller. Whenever you think you know what is going to happen next, the author surprises you with plot twists that are as credible as they are startling. My only regret upon finishing the book is it had to end. I hope the author will favor us with a sequel.
October 27, 2024
Was für ein großartiges Buch!
Sally entkommt "The Great Famine" indem sie es auf ein Gefangeneneschiff nach Tasmanien schafft zusammen mit 200 anderen straffälligen Frauen, die in die Kolonie entsandt werden. Freundschaften entstehen und die Frauen müssen moralisch fragwürdige Entscheidungen treffen um zu überleben.
Sally entkommt "The Great Famine" indem sie es auf ein Gefangeneneschiff nach Tasmanien schafft zusammen mit 200 anderen straffälligen Frauen, die in die Kolonie entsandt werden. Freundschaften entstehen und die Frauen müssen moralisch fragwürdige Entscheidungen treffen um zu überleben.
January 23, 2019
This is a wonderful historical fiction novel. The story immediately gripped me, with plenty of twists and turns along the way - right up until the final page. It is very clear that there was much research carried out and this is reflected in the author's telling of the story. Orla McAlinden has a beautiful style of writing and her prose flows effortlessly. It wasn't at all what I expected from a 'famine' novel, and the story of the 'wren' women is intriguing. Highly recommended and I look forward to reading the next novel from this talented author.
October 18, 2018
In awe of the writing, research and subject matter. Looking forward to more from Orla McAlinden.
April 5, 2019
If history classes in high school were taught using this kind of historical fiction - then I honestly do not think we would be in such a sorry state of the world right now.
We would remember how recently our own ancestors were starving and struggling and fighting for their lives. We would have compassion for people who did everything 'right', followed the laws, did what they were told and still, and still ended up bedraggled, penniless and selling their daughters for a pound of flour to keep the other children alive.
A haunting book. One I was not sure would end well, which many stories do not end on a Hollywood sparkle: children die, women are literally f**ked to death, die of scurvy, flu, a beating or a simple cut that goes gangrene.
Or die alone, starved to the bone laying atop their own parents graves.
I am so delighted that the author, Orla McAlinden, did not let 70 rejections stop her from trying to publish The Flight of the Wren. And I do so hope she has more historical fiction to share.
We would remember how recently our own ancestors were starving and struggling and fighting for their lives. We would have compassion for people who did everything 'right', followed the laws, did what they were told and still, and still ended up bedraggled, penniless and selling their daughters for a pound of flour to keep the other children alive.
A haunting book. One I was not sure would end well, which many stories do not end on a Hollywood sparkle: children die, women are literally f**ked to death, die of scurvy, flu, a beating or a simple cut that goes gangrene.
Or die alone, starved to the bone laying atop their own parents graves.
I am so delighted that the author, Orla McAlinden, did not let 70 rejections stop her from trying to publish The Flight of the Wren. And I do so hope she has more historical fiction to share.
September 27, 2019
An essential read for fans of historical fiction, the story leads us into the darkest heart of the famine as she weaves an intriguing tale with unforgettable characters. A must for those who wish to investigate the reality of this horrifying era in Irish history. From humble home to prison ship, follow Sally's journey and ask yourself what you would do to avoid the workhouse. A compelling read.
January 9, 2020
This book was just up my street. It is a mix of historical fact and fiction. The characters are strongly drawn, fascinating and real. The story is gritty and doesn't hold back; but neither deliberately shocks for sensation.
Sally Mahon is a victim of the effects of the Irish Famine, and finds herself orphaned and alone in the world. As a young, hungry, innocent teenager she stumbles from one precarious situation to another, meeting people who use and manipulate her.
Sally finds herself on the way to Van Dieman's land with other women accused of prostitution, theft, arson and more. Along the way she loses her faith, has her eyes opened and becomes more than a friend to Patsy, who persuades her to do something drastic.
As an old woman on her death-bed she reveals her life's secrets to her 'granddaughter' , Margaret, and the reader.
A book you won't want to put down.
Sally Mahon is a victim of the effects of the Irish Famine, and finds herself orphaned and alone in the world. As a young, hungry, innocent teenager she stumbles from one precarious situation to another, meeting people who use and manipulate her.
Sally finds herself on the way to Van Dieman's land with other women accused of prostitution, theft, arson and more. Along the way she loses her faith, has her eyes opened and becomes more than a friend to Patsy, who persuades her to do something drastic.
As an old woman on her death-bed she reveals her life's secrets to her 'granddaughter' , Margaret, and the reader.
A book you won't want to put down.
December 21, 2018
I think this book is absolutely brilliant. Prose that rolls you right onto the next line, the next page, the next chapter, seamlessly. The depths of despair, the horror of the era, captured so expertly, told so well, not in a way to repel but to guide you on each character's journey, right into the reality of their reality. Fabulous book, fabulous writing.
July 21, 2019
Inspired by true events, The Flight of the Wren tells of the impact the Famine had on some of the women of Ireland , and their desperate fight for survival. Itis a raw depiction of the era, and portrays some unforgettable characters.
Highly recommended
Highly recommended
May 27, 2019
Enjoyed this story about a young woman set during the Irish famine. A tough,unflinching read at times, as it should be, with vivid storytelling and colourful characters, I was kept enthralled to the end.
January 7, 2019
Great book. Really did bring history to life.
Wonderful story, well told.
Wonderful story, well told.
April 10, 2020
A great book. I was hooked from the first page and there was just the perfect tension to keep me wanting to read more and then some more again. I was delighted that the characters and story always remained to the fore and I loved the honest telling of a bleak and horrific time in our past - the hardship endured by the Irish and the hardship, in particular, endured by women and children. I hope the author knows how good she is. A great read, highly recommended.
August 8, 2021
The portrayal of the violent crime at the end as having some sort of ‘triggering incident(s)’ that made the ‘good’ characters behave out of character ruins the book for me. Suggesting motivations for the events in no way shifts blame from those responsible. By doing this the author suggests that murder is what is due problematic individuals.
December 3, 2021
First half was a lot more engaging than the second and the ending was a touch unbelievable with a lot left open ended for one of the characters but I enjoyed it overall and would recommend it!
January 23, 2022
A wonderful read of history.
October 23, 2022
A Very important book on the history of many Irish women during the famine and after.
Very moving and teaches so much about that time.
I think this book deserves more attention. Loved it.
Very moving and teaches so much about that time.
I think this book deserves more attention. Loved it.
April 16, 2023
A heart breaking and haunting story of a girl trying to survive despite all the odds...read it in 2 days- unputdownable! Thanks Orla!
August 14, 2025
Brilliant. As someone who’s lived in Ireland 20 years it gave me a new insight into the experience of women during that time. Some parts were hard to read, but I’m very emotional. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews