Shadow of a Century: An Irish Love Story

Development of characters and progression of this historical fiction is SO well interlaced. Very strong ! A love story that the author assigns a place for at the end. Memorable characters; strong, dedicated to their mission and each other. The story spans 2 generations and the author transitions smoothly between them. Loved every bit! Did it again, Jean Grainger, a beautiful story of Irish family ties I relate with ...and I'm Italian.

I really enjoyed this story. I took one star off of the review because it suffers from some grammatical issues, timeline issues, and an abrupt ending. I think this book is self-published; I have noticed with many self-published books that there are grammar and spelling problems. I don't often mention grammar and spelling issues but it's enough of an issue here that it's worth mentioning. The timeline is difficult to grasp. One reason why is that the specific age of one of the main characters is not stated until much later in the book. In fact, only one character's age is mentioned up front and I'm not even sure about that one. So, perhaps none of the ages are stated until the elderly character later in the book. This throws the timeline into confusion and is distracting. The ending is abrupt and I felt that it could have been improved if the author had included in the story having the characters go to the orphanage where one of the characters had grown up. Perhaps her parentage could have been tied in with some of the other characters in the story. That all said, this is a really good story. As I mentioned, I think this book is self-published. If so, it definitely has the potential to be picked up and republished by one of the larger publishing houses. The story pulled me in immediately and kept me reading even with the issues that I mentioned above. And the story is complex. There is the main story of the book and then the story of one of the main characters, so multiple stories in one. Yet, it doesn't feel too busy and, with the exception of the abrupt ending, it doesn't feel fragmented. I recommend this story if you like historical fiction. I even recommend it for readers like me, who don't usually like much in the "romance" category.

I have to say , this is one of the best books I have read in years ! You get drawn in to the characters, as if they were family . The historical aspect, was eye opening to me , the beautiful and heart wrenching story of Mary , who’s strength and love carry through to the very end , I couldn’t put it down ! I have read many books by Jean Grainger and this has to be my favorite, though I do love her other books very much . This really should be made into a movie . It would rival a love story as strong as “ The Notebook “ , in my opinion :) .

I think I need to get a stamp making kit. It would be so much easier to rubber stamp these reviews than to type in the same things over & over! But, yet again, another win from Jean Grainger! This is one of her stand-alone novels, & it begins in Ireland in 1913 when Mary is cast out by the orphanage she had survived for 18 years. She is highly skilled in household duties, has perfect manners for a life of servitude, & bursting with what the nuns taught her...that she was worth nothing but doing the dirty work for the wealthy. As the child of a wanton, as the nuns ASSUMED, she must stay away from men so she didn't end up like her mother! "The bad was in her blood"!. But she was an innocent to everything else in the world! Somehow, she manages to get to Dublin hoping to find a service job in a decent house. What she found was a wonderful house to work in! Well, except for the Master, but thankfully he was rarely there. Besides, his misogyny was greatly offset by the Mistress, Mrs. Grant; the Housekeeper, Mrs. Kearns; & the maid two doors down, Eileen! They became the family she'd never had! Within 3 years all four women were hip deep into the political unrest when Ireland once again attempted to gain its independence from Britain. The Master found out about his wife's "disloyalty" & nearly killed her. More than once! Mary got on his bad side by defending her good, kind, Mistress! From that point on, the story goes deeper into the cry for independence. Mary falls in love with Rory, a man from the cause, & Eileen's brother; her Mistress has her do more for the Cause, in her place since the Master is watching, hoping to catch her again. They are all a part of the Easter Rising & then the Civil War. It is truly heartbreaking! PLUS...another part of the story takes place in NYC in 2015. A woman, a very well known political journalist, with Irish roots BTW, is exposed as the lover of a married politician. She should've seen that coming, but she believes he still loves her & everything will go back to normal soon. Her childhood was almost the exact opposite of Mary's yet somehow she's almost as innocent! Naturally she loses her job, goes to her former boss who gives her a job, reporting on a group of robberies in a nice neighborhood with the elderly as the targets. Her first stop was to a 97 y/o woman who had a house full of memorabilia from that time in Irish history. They bond through sheer traumatic desperation & become fast friends! Meanwhile even they are pulled into the past troubles of Irish history! Read to see how the stories from two centuries intertwine. I hope I haven't given too much spoiler information, because I hate that! So, now I get to the rubber stamp usage. I think I've said the same things about all her books, but I can't gelp it! Ms. Grainger HAS given us another spectacular read! The characters ARE written in a way that they are YOUR friends, except Mr. Grant & his friends. They are YOUR enemies, too! The description of the scenery IS such that you can close your eyes & SEE it, maybe even smell it! YOU feel the cold rain! YOU feel the beatings! Their fears & joys, their heartbreak & victories, ARE felt by YOU! YOU feel the hate & the love! Ms. Grainger makes it all real for her readers. I've never stepped foot on Irish soil, but thanks to her, I feel as if it were my second home! One more thing, I not only enjoyed the book Immensely, but learned much from it as well! I probably would have finished in 1/3 of the time if I hadn't Googled every other sentence!

1916年，アイルランド独立の契機となったイースター蜂起を題材とした歴史小説．蜂起に加わり，その後迫害をさけてアメリカに渡った女性の一人娘が，母の形見である当時の遺物を携え，2016年にダブリンで行われた百年記念式典に臨む．小説は，100年前の舞台と現在を交互に描きながら進んで行く．お決まりの臭いロマンスねたがちょっともたつく感があるが，それ以外はテンポ良く読ませる．ストーリーは比較的単純だが，分かりやすく，その分，温もりのある歴史的事実を肌身に感じることができ，充実した読後感が得られた． アイルランド，英国では常識の大事件らしいが，この辺りの事情に疎い日本人としては，大いに勉強にもなる．主人公以外の登場人物の多くは実在の人々である．アイルランドに限らないが，自らの血を贖って自由を勝ち取った国民，民族の歴史を見る度に，やはり日本は平和ぼけといわれても反論できないと感じるところである．

I do not recall ordering this book from Amazon and was surprised when I found it on my account; however, I am certainly happy that I had the chance to read it. This is a very well written historical romance where the characters and the surroundings came alive for me in a delightful way. Ms. Grainger has a skill for writing in detail helping the reader to see the situation/story as it is happening and there were times when I felt like I was sitting in a theatre seeing the story rather than reading it from my tablet. Well done and good, clean reading with interesting and unique characters along with some history of the Irish fight for independence in the early 1900's. I will certainly be reading more books from Jean Grainger.

Nice story and simple language. But very predictable. I got to know about Irish history, which was nice. Not sure how much fiction is interspersed in it, but it is interesting.

A truly emotional and beautiful story of the Irish heritage and its bravery against oppression brought to light for our modern times.

This was a tough read because it was so emotional. Living in a time of peace it's hard to imagine what it is like to live in a time of war. To live without equality. I'm grateful I got to read this reminder. Here's a quote: 'I was brought up to believe in equality, that work should be rewarded and profits shared. That women and men are equal, and that rather than being in competition with each other, the most effective way to make social progress is through co-operation. Not an idea that appeals to the powerful, then or now, as it happens. Nothing changes really. Just the names and the faces. There will always be greed and those willing to exploit others to get what they want. And hopefully, there will always be those willing to stand up and fight. Because, fight you must. The powerful will never volunteer to relinquish power. It must be taken forcibly from them. It's the only way.’ There's a lovestory which is awesome and inspiring. It made me realise what's really important in life. One of the characters was very religious. Another quote: 'The thing is, usually faith is a good thing, at least from where I’m coming from it is anyway. But when you lose focus on the present, on the here and now, and your mind is taken over by what you imagine the spiritual world to be, then that’s not living. And that’s what we are here to do, to live, and to try to be happy and be true to ourselves and those around us.' I received a free copy and this is my honest review