Wednesday 6 May 2009

Canadian Fiction

Finished May 5
Oonagh by Mary Tilberg
This wonderful novel of historical fiction tells the story of a young Irish woman, Oonagh Corcoran. Oonagh leaves Ireland in 1831 with her sister Mairi and her new brother-in-law Josie to come to Upper Canada. Her older brother Michael and his family are already there, and have sent the fare to bring her over. Oonagh is a woman with a strong sense of self and an independent streak. She believes in fairness and justice and will stand up for others.
In Canada, Oonagh begins a friendship with Chauncey Talor, a self-made barber who escaped from slavery in the American South. Oonagh is introduced to Chauncey by her young nephew Daniel, and as the two adults share their stories, a bond grows between them.
Their private friendship grows into a public marriage and this story illuminates the prejudices and social constraints of the times.
Tilberg based the novel on a true story of a marriage between an Irish girl and an escaped slave and has done much historical research to ensure the story is true to the times.
A great story and very well written.

2 comments:

  1. I thought so, too, Shonna! I was at Mary's book release party in Powell River, and if my husband ever gets the video into a post-able format, I'll be putting it (or at least a link to it) on my blog, if you're interested in seeing Mary read bits from the book or talk about the research she did in more depth than the book.

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  2. Oh, I'd love to see (or even hear) that. I find it so interesting to hear authors talk about their process and to bring their own style to a reading of their work.

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