Star of the Sea

Farewell to Old Ireland

by Joseph O’Connor

Secker & Warburg, 2002, [First Edition], ISBN 0436255561, lightly illustrated with black and white illustrations, illustrated title page, illustrated endpapers (maps), hardcover, dustjacket

Very Good Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, no inscriptions, age toned edges; dustjacket shows minor edge and shelf wear (see photographs)

“IN the bitter winter of 1847, form an Ireland torn by injustice and natural disaster, the Star of the Sea sets sail for New York.  On board are hundreds of fleeing refugees, some brimming with optimism, many more desperate.  Among them are a maidservant with a devastating secret, bankrupt Lord Merrideth and his wife and children, as aspiring novelist, a maker of revolutionary ballads, all braving the Atlantic in search of a new home.  Each is connected more deeply than they can possibly know.  But a camouflaged killer is stalking the decks, hungry for the vengeance that will bring absolution.
The twenty-six-day journey will see many lives end, others begin afresh.  Passionate loves are tenderly recalled, ducked responsibilities regretted too late; profound relationships shockingly unearthed where once it seemed there were none.  In a spellbinding story of tragedy and mercy, love and healing, the further the ship sails towards the Promised Land, the more her passengers seem moored to a past which will never let them go…”