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Walking People (2010)

by Mary Beth Keane(Favorite Author)

3.68 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

1299881874 (ISBN13: 9781299881877)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Mariner Books

review 1: 3.5 There really ought to be half-stars available...A touching story and well written. But. After the first 100 pages, its glorification of the mundane and prosaic bits of daily life becomes grating and tempts the reader to skip sections, though in doing so other important bits of the story might be missed. If all the minute details were semiotic it would be one thing, but the style became simply tedious.For those who know little or nothing about Travellers, no doubt this novel is a surprise. Predictably, this particular narrative leaves out the other half of the story, the not very glamorous aspect.
review 2: Imagine a story of children growing up in a poor rural area of a developing country, dealing with suspicions across ethnic divides, and intrigued by the ... morearrival of electricity in a nearby town, who eventually migrate to America and make their lives there. Such a story could be full of clichés and stereotypes. But this author, instead, tells a story that is so unique and whose characters are so specific to themselves, and writes it so fluidly, that it is authentic. It must be real, even if it was imagined. In telling the stories of these people, the author conveys every level so well - the personal loves, ambitions, and heartaches, as well as the history and cultural differences.So here are some of the surprises. The developing country is Ireland in the 1950s. The ethnic divide is between Catholics and Tinkers - a minority which seems to be for Ireland what the Roma are to Central Europe. The two sisters and young man who migrate to America create a triangle unlike anything you have read before. The author moves seamlessly between the characters' different perspectives so that you can, at once, believe and share the Catholic suspicion of Tinkers and then believe and share the Tinker suspicion of Catholics. On finishing the book, I felt I understood better what it means to lose a husband, have your children grow up and move away, to be abandoned by a sister, experience the onset of Alzheimer's, to dig a tunnel 700 feet underground, to try to stay warm by a peat fire and, ultimately, to make difficult choices and live life fully.What more could you ask of a book? less

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