BALLYROURKE
By Linda O'Brien
Jove Historical Romance: Irish Eyes Series
October 2002
ISBN # 0-515-13409-0
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Katherine Rourke is an American woman
who's just discovered that she's inherited an estate
in Ireland. An unknown uncle has
come all the way to Chicago to give her
the news and to accompany her back to Ireland to take possession
of the estate. During the trip he's filled her head with all
manner of stories about the house, the estate and the dangerous
Irish who work the land and live on the estate. Katherine's
more than curious about this estate. She knew her mother was
Irish but knows nothing of her heritage. Her mother refused
to talk about it, telling her that her family was dead and the
two of them were all who was left. With this uncle suddenly
appearing and telling her she's a rich heiress, curiosity has
sparked to not only see what she's inherited but to also learn
as much as possible about a family she believed dead.
Colin MacCormack manages Ballyrourke Estate. He's in a difficult
position as his family once owned Ballyrourke until the land
was stripped from them by the British monarchy and given to
plantation gentry. The most recent owner, the Lawthrops, allowed
the MacCormack's to remain on the land and had given the management
of the estate to Colin because he knows the land and has a
tie to the people. But Colin uses this position to his own
advantage. He's determined to get Ballyrourke into the hands
of the MacCormack's once again, whatever the cost. But when
the house is left to an American woman, and learns of her
intentions to sell the estate, Colin must hurry to get the
money to buy the estate before she finds another buyer, even
if it means stealing from her.
What had the potential to be a really good story ends up
falling short because of historical inaccuracy. This fact
seems to have plagued the now defunct Irish Eyes Series from
Jove Historicals. With "Ballyrourke" specifically
I found the relationship between Colin and the estate unrealistic,
especially under a Victorian ruled Ireland. The Irish were
household and estate servants but would never have been put
into such a managerial position as the one Colin had. Colin
seemed to be have been accountable to no one but himself,
and the late Lady Lawthrop.
There were other inaccuracies, though minor, but amounted
to a level of unbelievablity to anyone with a knowledge of
Irish history.
Another issue that niggled at me was the tired premise of
the American coming to Ireland, the American who's inherited
a castle or estate, the American who's met Mr or Miss Right
in Ireland. It comes over to me as the same old story set
in a different time period. And unfortunately I believe it
was a combination of historical inaccuracy and stories that
sound the same that has been the downfall of the Irish Eyes
series.
There's no denying that Ms O'Brien can tell a story. The
story of Ballyrourke was actually very entertaining. I was
intrigued to learn what Katherine was going to decide about
the house…sell or stay. Colin's plight to regain the
estate for his family kept me turning pages to see whether
or not he would go about the effort morally. And when Katherine
and Colin's paths crossed it was obvious there would be a
relationship there, that's a given because of the genre, but
how would they come to terms with each other and how would
their love blossom.
I believe that a bit more research would have made this story
historically accurate, which would have lent a more enjoyable
time between the pages. While the average reader will read and
highly enjoy this story, it will be those knowledgeable readers
that will suffer, as I did. I do look forward, however, to reading
other stories by Ms O'Brien as I believe she has it in her to
write a top class book.
