I almost gave this a five. Not sure if I liked this so much because it is the first fiction I've read in a long time, or because it was generational or because it taught me more about Ireland and Irish culture. Since living with my mother-in-law, I seem to want to know more and more about her younger years, what her life must've been like. I do love a book that spans several generations, because life has always seemed to me more nurture than nature. The end left me a bit disappointed, but that may be due to my own shallowness in that I so love clean closure. Some highlights for me were the weeping walls, the beautiful flowers that smelled terrible, the modest b & b owner, the peculiar ways of the main character and of course, the tinkers - - oh, and the quote, "she wouldn't give someone the steam of her piss" - that's a keeper. Not a revolution, not a murder, just people put in their own life circumstances. Maybe it was the author, but I loved this book. I didn't want to put it down. Maybe it was the couple that Greta and Michael became, and the family they had. It was everything you'd want from a marriage and a family. Two people, coming from such dire circumstances, yet turning their lives into so much love and devotion.
Do You like book Walking People (2010)?
I really liked this book and I am especially impressed because this is Mary Keane's first book.
—jhyll
I'd give this one 3.5 stars. The writing was good, but the story fizzled a bit in the end.
—anyaf
Almost halfway through the book and I still don't understand what it's about. Boring.
—tiana
It had some laughs and tears in it. I thought the ending was quite Blaise.
—coolslayer11111111111111111111
