The Crooked Branch

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When Leo and Majella found out they were expecting Emma, they left their apartment in Manhattan, and moved in search of a more suburban lifestyle in Queens. Were they right to make that move? How would Majella’s experiences as a new mother have been better or worse if they had stayed in Manhattan, or if they had selected a more neutral setting than the house where Majella grew up? Jeanine Cummins, you’ve strummed my heartstrings! I have to believe that this author writes with deep emotion. I am yet to do some Googling to learn more about the Irish potato famine of the 1800’s, but I’m certain that Ms Cummins conducted a lot of research. With the ravages of the famine upon her, a terrified and distraught Ginny Doyle fled from Ireland to America. Although she was eventually able to acquire passage for herself and her children, not all of Ginny's family were able to escape and to start over fresh in their lives. So, what actually happened during those harrowing years, and just why does Ginny continue to call herself a killer? The last time I felt this way about a past-present story line was reading The Baker’s Daughter by Sarah McCoy. I hope you get a chance to read this one! Ginny lives in Ireland. A time when the famine was really bad for families. It was fight or perish. Ginny was willing to do anything to survive. How far would she go?

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Her next two books were novels that explore Irish history. The Outside Boy (2010) is about Pavee travellers. The Crooked Branch (2013) is about the Great Famine of Ireland. [9] These books were published for the first time in Ireland in 2020. [7] From Jeanine Cummins, the national bestselling author of American Dirt and A Rip in Heaven, comes The Crooked Branch--the deeply moving story of two mothers from two very different times.Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada, Winnipeg, April 22, 2016 Majella wonders if perhaps she is a bad mother because of this Ginny, that maybe she is genetically programmed to fail at motherhood. After all, Majella and her mother don’t have a great relationship, so maybe she is she destined to have the same with Emma. But as Majella continues to unravel the mystery that is Ginny and her Irish family, she forms a new connection with her mother, forges a possible friendship with another new mother, and starts to regain some of her sanity. Majella eavesdrops on her neighbors using her baby monitor. Is this an unethical behavior, either immediately or eventually? If so, when does it cross the line? After the birth of her daughter, Emma, first-time mother Majella finds herself feeling extremely strange - almost like she has somehow become separated or disconnected from herself and her family. The usually resilient and self-deprecating young woman suddenly feels isolated and exhausted - feelings which she slowly comes to realize reach far beyond simply being overwhelmed by her recent introduction to new motherhood. Trying to better understand her extraordinary feelings of 'differential otherness', Majella understands that no matter how much they may love her, her family just can't help her in this particular situation; so she seeks out professional help.

THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices THE CROOKED BRANCH – Reading Group Choices

In alternating chapters, we follow Ginny Doyle, in Ireland in 1846-7, during the famine and Majella, her great-great-great? granddaughter in current day NYC as each struggles to figure out how to be a good mother, what you should be willing to sacrifice, and what you should not. Like many historical novels, this has a dual narrative and I really enjoyed both equally and cared about what happened to both protagonists. Conroy, Catherine (January 25, 2020). "I Didn't Know If I Had the Right to Tell The Story". The Irish Times . Retrieved June 5, 2022. Die Geschichte erschien zunächst als “The Ghost in the Garden Room" zu Weihnachten 1859 in "The Haunted House" und wurde später unter dem Titel „The crooked Branch“ erneut veröffentlicht.One moving scenario is when Majella goes to a mommies group. The mothers here have very clear rules of what constitutes a good mother (and that definitely does not include bottle feeding!)