In 1846, seventeen-year-old midwife’s assistant Caitlin Nee lives on a tenant farm with her family in County Galway, Ireland. She has two great ambitions: to become a wise woman like her mentor Bridie and to win the heart of handsome, mercurial Liam O’Shea. Then one night an unsettling dream about ravens—harbingers of death—proves prescient when a potato blight turns her halcyon world into a living nightmare. Starvation, sickness and loss will soon become a daily reality, and no one is spared from horrific events and heartbreaking choices. Caitlin’s own family—romantic Orla, proud Seamus, pious Colin, fey Mary, and her Mam and Da—will all be tested by the devastating Great Hunger.
The Nees, like many other Irish families, work hardscrabble land for the imperious Lord Wentworth. They live in constant fear not only of dying from want but also of being evicted from their cabins if they can’t pay the rent. For the landlord, hunger and poverty are the fault of the victims rather than neglect and inadequate relief measures on the part of the government. After accidentally hearing a conversation at Wentworth Hall, Caitlin is made aware of the cruel indifference of His Lordship that will result in tumbled homes and mass graves throughout his estate. Will her family suffer a similar fate?
Despite all of the sorrow and devastation around them, love grows ever stronger between Caitlin and Liam. They make plans for a future life together once the famine is over. But when tragedy and rebellion force Liam to emigrate to America, Caitlin must decide whether to stay in Ireland or to follow her heart.
Based on contemporary anecdotes, The Unkindness of Ravens: A Tale of the Great Irish Famine tells the story of a disastrous historical event through the eyes of a strong-willed young lass who embodies the resilience of the Irish spirit.
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