From the author of the acclaimed The Whitest Flower comes the story of an unforgettable heroine, Ellen Rua O’Malley. Widowed by Ireland’s Great Famine, she has fled her native land for Boston taking with her her two surviving children, Patrick and Mary, and the `silent girl’ rescued from the hordes of the dispossessed.
Boston in the 1850s is the hub of the universe: gateway to America’s temples of commerce and learning; liberal, sophisticated – the very best place in all of the New World for a woman to be. There, awaiting Ellen, are the stability of a new life and Lavelle, the man who loves her.
But Ellen, desperate to shake off the Old World, is driven by her own demons to put everything at risk. And Boston, on the brink of Civil War, seems only to mirror her own conflict, to sound the knell of her own battle for survival.
A powerful and compelling tale of lives and loves dislocated, The Element of Fire captures emotions as timeless as life. And love.
About the Author :
Brendan Graham’s, You Raise Me Up (music by Rolf Lovland), is a song which has become a global phenomenon, touching the hearts and minds of people the world over. With over one thousand recordings in forty languages it has amassed 100 million sales and one billion internet views. Apart from its commercial success, You Raise Me Up, has become a worldwide anthem of celebration, commemoration and inspiration, crossing boundaries of culture, creed and country
Review :
Reviews for The Whitest Flower:
‘Irish history is like a gold seam for historical novelists. Occasionally a nugget is produced and Graham’s is one of those.’ Ireland on Sunday
‘This huge sweep of a novel will whisk you from Ireland to Australia and Canada.’ Woman’s Realm
