Sing, Wild Bird, Sing, Jacqueline OMahony
Sing, Wild Bird, Sing, Jacqueline OMahony
List: $42.99 | Sale: $30.10
Club: $21.49

Sing, Wild Bird, Sing

Author: Jacqueline O'Mahony

Narrator: Aoife McMahon

Unabridged: 9 hr 52 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/01/2023

Synopsis

A courageous woman journeys from nineteenth-century Ireland to the American West in a powerful novel about the indomitable will to survive—and to flourish—against nearly impossible odds.It’s 1849 on the west coast of Ireland. Resilient Honora O’Donoghue is accustomed to fending for herself and to reading the language of the natural world. It was always said she’d been marked for something different, but it’s not until she suffers devastating losses in a country gripped by the Famine that Honora begins to understand how that difference will save her. With the hope of a better life in America calling, Honora keeps moving toward her freedom.Across the Atlantic, she’s unfamiliar with the customs, jobs are scarce, and she has no money. She finds only one new friend, and Honora’s desperation is a state to be taken advantage of. Even the prospect of marriage is not without its conditions—and far from the dream she imagines. With so much disappointment and heartbreak in her past, Honora must decide what kind of life she wants, and what she’s prepared to do to get it.

About Jacqueline O'Mahony

Jacqueline O’Mahony was named Young Irish Writer of the Year by the Irish Examiner when she was fourteen. She took her BA in Ireland, her MA at the University of Bologna, and her PhD in history at Boston College and as a Fulbright Scholar at Duke University. She worked at Condé Nast as a stylist and editor for Vogue and at Associated Newspapers as an arts editor, and in 2015 she graduated from City University’s MA in creative writing with a first-class degree. Her debut novel, A River in the Trees, was nominated for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award and the Not the Booker Prize in 2020. Originally from Cork, Ireland, she lives in London with her husband and three young children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by RedRedtheycallmeRed on July 05, 2023

I'm not sure it's truthful to say I enjoyed this book, it's pretty bleak, but I kept thinking about it when I wasn't reading it and wanted to get back to it whenever I had a minute. The book begins in Ireland during the famine, Honora sees death all around her and decides to walk to the sea to take a......more

Goodreads review by Kathy on July 20, 2023

Mixed feelings about this read. Part compelling, part annoying.......more

Goodreads review by Vicki on July 05, 2023

Travelers in Someone Else's Land... No spoilers. 3 1/2 stars. SING, WILD BIRD, SING by Jacqueline O'Mahony... This was book 1 of 2 of my Amazon First Reads selections for the month of July 2023. The pickins were slim indeed this month... The story of Honora, later known as Nell, begins in 1849's Irelan......more

Goodreads review by Chrissie on September 01, 2023

Having learned a lot about the Irish famine, I braced myself to read this book! The author, however, represents the period with little written horror, and it is enough. The majority of the book is set in America, as we learn what happens to the very resourceful main character after she leaves Irelan......more

Goodreads review by MaryEllen on July 09, 2023

What was the point? An empty story at the beginning, middle and end. So many words written to express nothing. A wasted session of reading for me.......more

Quotes

“Aoife McMahon's multifaceted narration brings this story of grief, resilience, and the burning desire to survive to life. Her melodious Irish accent tells the story of Honora, whose whole life has been a fight for survival that was foretold by a superstition relating to her birth: A robin flew into the house as she was born and her mother died.… McMahon gives the diverse cast personality through unique voices. Especially compelling is the character Joseph, a Native American kindred spirit whose voice is full of compassion, empathy, and wisdom.” —AudioFile Magazine“Jacqueline O’Mahony’s work is fiction, though she describes historical events with the unswerving eye of a journalist… [She] conveniently, yet thoughtfully, adds characters and spiritual elements as needed…. Sing, Wild Bird, Sing is a novel about the will to persevere in the face of unspeakable grief.” —Booklist“The story is breathtaking in its scope. Life in Doolough is horrifying, but Honora’s will to survive is magnificent…I would read more from Jacqueline O’Mahony any time.” —Historical Novels Review

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List