The Walking People: Summary and book reviews of The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane, plus links to an excerpt from The Walking People and a biography of Mary Beth Keane.
The Walking People
by Mary Beth Keane
Hardcover: May 2009,
416 pages.
Paperback: May 2010,
416 pages.
Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward.
Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to.
Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of the present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children—with the best of intentions— have conspired to unite the worlds she’s so carefully kept separate for decades.
A beautifully old-fashioned novel, The Walking People is a debut of remarkable range and power.
20 BookBrowse members reviewed this book for "First Impressions" with an
average review of 4.4 out of 5 stars. Read the
reviews. (Reviewed by BookBrowse First Impression Reviewers).
The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley The Walking People is thoughtful and appealing. It doesn't have much narrative energy -- it actually slows down after Greta, Johanna and Michael leave Ireland -- and at times Keane's prose strains for lyrical effect, but it's a solid, intelligent piece of work.
Booklist
In her debut, Keane marries a deliciously old-fashioned style of storytelling with a fresh take on the immigrant experience. … Tracking the family from 1956 to the present, Keane gives a heartfelt account of their pain and their joy while also minutely exploring varied settings and occupations. A warm, involving family drama that makes a triumph of Greta's transformation from misfit to capable wife and mother.
Publishers Weekly
Her romance is also authentic and unsentimental, and despite the stodgy storytelling, her coming-of-age reflects a fresh take on the lives recent immigrants can create.
Kirkus Reviews
Starred Review. Sometimes heart-wrenching, sometimes joyous and tender - one of those stories that lingers in the reader's memory as a lived experience.
Library Journal
This is a richly detailed, powerfully evocative novel ... Keane's first novel is as powerful as it is relevant. Enthusiastically recommended.
Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate, 2001 to 2003.
Mary Beth Keane has produced a compelling drama of transatlantic Irish life, told with a truthfulness that is felt not only in the sweep and charm of the story but in its very sentences. The Walking People is an irresistible blend of narrative and syntactic authenticity.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Jeanne Murrell Beginning, Middle, End The author captures the imagination in her vivid description of Ireland and the lives of the people left behind. The part dealing with letters is very interesting but at the end, the book simply lies down and dies. A book needs a beginning, a... Read More
Rated of 5
by Diane An Interesting Tale of Irish Immigrants As one of Irish heritage, I was drawn to The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane. The author pulls the reader into the world of Irish immigrants Michael and Greta Ward, telling us their story first as country people living in a remote Irish... Read More
Irish Travellers Among themselves, Travellers refer to themselves as Pavees. To
outsiders they are often referred to as pikeys, knackers or tinkers (the latter
two descriptions refer to traditional crafts in which they were employed,
rendering animals and tin-smithing; the first two are considered particularly
derogatory). In Irish, they are known as Lucht Siúil - the walking people -
hence the title of Mary Beth Keane's novel. Sometimes they are also
referred to as diddycoys - which is a Roma term for a child of mixed Roma and
non-Roma parentage; when used in the context of Travellers it refers to the fact
that they are not "Gypsy" by blood but have adopted a similar lifestyle.
A 2006 Irish national census recorded 22,400 Travellers in the country,
about 0.5% of the population (but many believe the numbers are larger), with
95% living in urban areas (these days, many choose to settle in one
location but may travel for seasonal work). It is estimated that there are a
further 15-30,000 Travellers in Great...
Hauntingly beautiful and heartbreaking, Colm Tóibín's sixth novel, Brooklyn, is set in Brooklyn and Ireland in the early 1950s, when one young woman crosses the ocean to make a new life for herself.
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing(May 16 2013) In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth...
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(1157 words).
The Washington Post - Jonathan Yardley
Kirkus Reviews
Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate, 2001 to 2003.
of 5
by Jeanne Murrell
of 5
by Diane
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