Book Review: Daughters In Exile (An Irish Famine Trilogy Book 2) by Bridget Walsh

Available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Annie Power and Jane Keating are forced to leave Ireland at the height of the Famine. Annie takes her brother and sister to their aunt in New York. She is determined to help other young exiles like herself. Jane is transported as a convict to New South Wales. Vulnerable and alone, she vows to meet Annie again, and dreams of them both 

returning home to Ireland.

Daughters In Exile follows two stories, one set in New South Wales and the other in New York, either of which has enough tension to support a full novel. We move between the lives of the two friends, exiled to different continents, and it's hard to decide who has the most challenging time.

Bridget Walsh shows her storytelling skill when she explores what it must have been like for families and orphans to arrive in a strange new country and make their way in life. Often with little more than the clothes they arrive in, they must find courage and learn to make the best of any opportunity. 

There is a poignant undercurrent to the book which means the reader is always prepared for the worst, yet Daughters In Exile also manages to be a heartwarming tribute to the men and women - and children - who risked everything to escape the famine in Ireland.

I'm looking forward to reading the third book in this memorable trilogy. Highly recommended. 

Tony Riches

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About the Author

Bridget Walsh is descended from Irish immigrants in Leicester, England, and says,  "I was steeped in Irish Catholicism and surrounded by my Irish uncles and aunts, my father’s siblings, who had followed him over to find work in England when there was non to be had in Ireland. As a second generation Irish woman, I have always been fascinated by the complex relationship between Ireland and Britain over many hundreds of years. I read about Democracy, Empires and Colonialism. I read lots of non-fiction about An Gorta Mór, the Irish Famine, but I was particularly interested in how women and their families managed in this terrible time.' When Bridget retired from full-time work in Further Education, she gained a Masters degree in Creative Writing, and began her Irish Famine Trilogy. Find out more from Bridget's website https://www.bridgetsjournal.com/ and find her on Twitter @bridgetw1807

See also: Book Review: Daughters of the Famine Road (An Irish Famine Trilogy Book 1)