Grace, Gráinne, Clíona.
Three women battling with themselves, and between themselves,
in order to find their individual identity,
yet search for a common
tie that binds them together. Torn apart by resentment and the
realities of life, they must find their way back to each other
through love and fulfillment of dreams.
Grace ran away from Ireland when she was very
young, taking her three-year-old daughter, Gráinne,
with her. After years of resentment of her mother, Clíona,
and a suffocation from island life, Grace runs away to Boston
to start a new life. Over the years, it's just been Grace
and Gráinne, best of friends in the best of times,
worst of enemies in the bad, but always having each other
for support, understanding and love. But when Grace finds
out that she has cancer, it's all Grace can do to keep her
wits about her while trying to help Gráinne face her
mother's impending death.
Gráinne is a mere girl yet a woman
still. Grace has raised her to be as proud and independent
as the pirate queen Grace O'Malley she was named for. Yet
no amount of preparation can prepare a person to face a loved
ones death. Gráinne's subconscious beings a 'letting
go' even before her mother's death, which causes a cavern
to open between them where once love and understanding ruled.
Gráinne becomes defiant, self-absorbed and reckless
in her search to find meaning in her mother's cancer, to find
meaning in her own life, and answers to the secrets that are
revealed when her once thought dead grandmother appears.
Clíona is the grandmother. Family patterns
developed through her. As a young girl, Clíona left
her home on Inis Murúch, Island of the Mermaids, to
go to Boston, as Grace does many years later. She works as
a servant in the home of young English couple to earn money
so she can put herself through nursing school. But as the
years passed, and she gives birth to an illegitimate daughter,
she is forced to return home after Grace's unruly behavior
causes strife amongst the family. Grace's feelings toward
Clíona have always been full of resentment because
of the serving job Clíona has. She feels they are far
above the English and her mother could have done better for
them. Now, with her daughter's cancer, seemingly sudden after
years of non-communication, Clíona finds that she is
returning to America to see her daughter one last time and
to bring her granddaughter back home to Ireland. She, herself,
is forced to search within herself for the answers to the
many questions that Gráinne has about her mother, and
a father she never knew and thought was dead.
"The Mermaids Singing" is Lisa Carey's
debut novel. This story explores family patterns of love,
resentment and forgiveness. These three character are expertly
written, each chapter told through each woman's own eyes,
and shows us that we're not alone in our own searches for
truth. It will leave you thinking about the characters well
after you've closed the book.
I really enjoyed "The Mermaids Singing"
and am anxious to read Lisa Carey's next book.
