The Crooked Branch

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Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, née Stevenson (29 September 1810 – 12 November 1865), often referred to simply as Mrs. Gaskell, was an English novelist and short story writer during the Victorian era. Her novels offer a detailed portrait of the lives of many strata of society, including the very poor, and as such are of interest to social historians as well as lovers of literature. This is the first review I read of this book and now I’m intrigued. What happens to both of these women? How do they come to terms with their situations? This one is going on my TBR list for sure. Thanks for the great review! The Crooked Branch follows two desperate mothers struggling through vastly different hardships, one in present-day Queens and the other in Ireland in 1846-47 during the Great Hunger, also known as the potato famine. Majella’s present-day story centers on her inability to adapt to motherhood and her fears about her mental health. She feels like she failed baby Emma from the beginning because she had a c-section after a long and difficult labor. She loves her daughter, but worries that she’ll never be the mom she dreamed of being, feels that she’s lost the person she was in her life before, and thinks she’s going crazy. She doesn’t think it’s postpartum depression; she thinks being a bad mother has been passed down through the generations and is in her genes — and the dreams, the blow-ups, and the inappropriate comments she can’t help making must prove it. Asmelash, Leah (2020-01-30). "The author tour for the controversial book 'American Dirt' has been canceled over safety concerns". CNN . Retrieved 2021-01-03.

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Zombie Parents Guide (Alice in Wonderland)59. a barmy bookworm (Mrs Dalloway)60. Janie (Ireland)61. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The Crooked Branch)62. Anna @ Diary of an Eccentric (The […] Nice review. I enjoyed this book as well even though I liked Ginny’s story better than Majella’s. 🙂 I just heard about this book, and it sounds marvelous. The premise is great, and I like the double narrative approach–weaving two stories and one family together, and, of course, the age-old dilemma regarding how to be a good mother and a good daughter.

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Maunder, Andrew (2007). "Lois the Witch". The Facts on File Companion to the British Short Story. pp.248–249. Despite the centuries that separate them, Majella is heartened to learn that her ancestor Ginny was in so many ways a woman just like herself - just a mother struggling to find a way to raise and protect her young children. Ginny's battles may have been more fundamental than Majella's - as she struggled to keep her young family alive during the time of Ireland's Great Hunger - yet Majella can't deny the strong connection that she still feels towards Ginny. However, does the fierce tenderness that Majella begins to feel towards her newborn daughter outweigh everything else - or is she actually genetically fated to be a bad mother? Determined to understand the truth of her heritage as well as her own identity, Majella seeks to learn more about Ginny Doyle's personal history - and discovers surprising new truths about her family and, ultimately, about herself. 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.

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When people “ fill in every conversation with fluff, to prevent you from trying to talk about anything real […] there’s usually some super-deep reservoir of hurt under there that they’re trying to hide. And they spend their whole life doing jazz-hands so that nobody will notice the gushing wound of pain behind the curtain.” I struggled with the book and it was a DNF for me. Some of it might be due to my personal experience with very serious pregnancy complications---the early scenes of the protagonist's 27-hour labor were tough to listen to but I made it through it. When she became whiney later on in the story, I had to give it up. I was totally absorbed by the plight of Ginny Doyle who desperately tried to feed her family during the horrendous Irish potato famine of 1846-7, and equally by the daunting struggle faced by Majella in present day NY as she tried to come to terms with her radically altered life after having a baby.Eds, The (2013-03-18). "Baltimore Fishbowl | The Ivy Bookshop Brings Jeanine Cummins, author of "The Crooked Branch" -". Baltimore Fishbowl . Retrieved 2020-01-25. 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] A typical Victorian moralising tale. Enjoyable to a degree in covering the evils of drink and debauchery. Not one of Gaskell's best works but a treat if you're into Yorkshire dialect and phonetics.

Empathy, Suspense and Love: Elizabeth Gaskell - SSRN Plot and Empathy, Suspense and Love: Elizabeth Gaskell - SSRN

Mancusi, Nicholas (2020-01-16). "Review: Jeanine Cummins' 'American Dirt' Is a Harrowing Tale of Immigration, Family and Memory". Time . Retrieved 2020-01-25. Die einzige Stütze der beiden Bauersleut ist die Tochter einer Schwester, die sie bei sich aufgenommen haben. Eigentlich, damit sie irgendwann Benjamin heiratet, schließlich sind die beiden Kinder miteinander aufgewachsen. The book closes with Majella’s mother finally coming to visit her new grandchild. Does this signal a significant change in their relationship? Will this baby girl of a new generation allow Majella and her mother to bond in a way they haven’t before? Is Majella still angry with her mother? How have her feelings changed and why?

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I only persisted with this book as I had been recommended it and the Irish Historical genealogy theme is an interest. I found the early chapters, heavy in dialogue very hard going. Reading it actually made me cringe. Felt very inauthentic. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not a fan of alternating timelines or viewpoints, but this book is the exception that proves the rule.