Publisher's Synopsis
Bridget Donahue's heart stopped. And, in that moment, a torrent of guilt and regret swelled up consuming her. Before her, under a mound of fallen leaves, a piece of faded red cloth protruded. Could her search for her sister end here? Bridget, only 13, carried the burden of knowing she was somehow responsible for her missing sister. The years of searching for Meg were to continue until she married Peter. When he tragically dies, Bridget and her three daughters set sail to join here wealthy brother in America. They traveled across the Atlantic full of dreams for a new life. But they were ill prepared for the life they found in 1927 Brooklyn. It is there that her daughter, Elizabeth, becomes an alcoholic and goes into exile. It is only when Bridget's granddaughter, Mabel, who was abandoned and betrayed grows up that the pieces of the family are put back together and they find out what happened back in Ireland to Meg. It's been said that the Irish experience is mute. That there is no one to write for the Irish, no one to speak for them. "Look Not Upon Our Sins" does just that. The backdrop covers everything from the Great famine and the heart wrenching crossing over the Atlantic Ocean on coffin ships as Irish ancestors died trying desperately to reach for a new life in North America, the early days of Brooklyn and the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, the hay day of the 1920's to the 1950's. "A wonderful novel that truly captures Ireland. I was deeply moved by her descriptions. You will immediately fall in love with the passion of Bridget Donahue. I hope it becomes a New York Times Best Seller!" Andy Cooney Irish American Entertainer and Recording Artist "Look Not Upon Our Sins" is an Irish style "Roots" meets "A Tree Grows In Brooklyn." Like Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" this is the compelling story of an Irish family. However, it is seen through the eyes of three generations of women showing the complex dynamic relationship between mother and daughter and between sisters.
