I received a copy of this book courtesy of Harper Collins.  I’m participating in Ms. Sheehan’s virtual blog tour which is being hosted by TLC book tours. 

    Those of you who regularly visit my blog know that I’m a very big fan of anything with time travel.  So I jumped at the chance to participate in this tour.  This wan’t the typical science fiction time travel.

    Anna O’Shea is at a low point in her life.  She’s had three miscarriages, been divorced, and decided that the law firm life isn’t for her.  She comes from an abusive household.  (I guess I should have featured this book in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month).  Her father was abusive to her brother Patrick (he seems to love her immensely).  After a particularly bad incident, where.   As frequently happens in such situations, Patrick ends up mistreating his own son; although I don’t think Patrick beat the boy. 

    At the beginning of the story, Anna is with a friend in Ireland when she is approached by an old woman and given a small wrapped package.  When she gets back to the U.S., her brother Patrick ends up in a bad accident on the way to New Jersey to deal with his son Joseph, who is a bit of a delinquent.  As a result, Anna goes to the jail to get her nephew. 

    Anna and Joseph are sucked into the past when the pair grab the small package which Joseph has fished out of her luggage.  They end up in Ireland in 1844, which is right before the Potato famine.  They end up being washed ashore from the ocean 70 miles apart from one another.  Anna ends up with a poor Irish family; Joseph ends up with an English lord living the life of privilege. 

    Anna works furiously to find her nephew and find a way to return to the future.  One of the things that she over looks is why she and Joseph travelled back in time to begin with.  Understanding this is the key to taking them back to the “future.”  As time goes on, both start living in the “present.”  They both find love in the oddest places.  The past ends up being very good for both of them.  They both change and grow in ways that I don’t think the “future” would have allowed them grow. 

    It was a very interesting story.  Don’t worry, the time traveling won’t bend your brain at all.  There was a lot of Irish history in the books.  I always knew that the Irish had been mistreated by the English.  I think it stood out so much because the reader experienced this from Anna’s point of view.  Let’s face it, as a female attorney her sensibilities were going to be horribly affronted.  We attorneys make a living out of protecting people’s rights.  During this time, so many people’s rights were being violated.  The British did not think anything of viewing the Irish as less than human. 

    I could identify with both characters very well.  I’ve had several friends that have gone through miscarriages, so I understand that pain very well.  I also know what it’s like being an attorney and questioning the life style choices that you’ve made, particularly when your personal life is falling apart.  But I could feel Joseph’s pain as well.  I can completely understand wanting love and affection from a parent and the pain of having that parent simply be unable to express those feelings.  Both characters were at a point in their lives where they need a jolt to get them out of their current rut.  It’s probably why they travelled through time at that particular moment. 

TLC tour for Now & Then

Wednesday- Yule Time Reading

Thursday- Life in the Thumb