Hey everyone! I have another giveaway for you, courtesy of the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This time it's for five copies of The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane. I'm currently reading a PDF of this one, with the finished copy coming, and should hopefully have a review up before the end of the giveaway. Since I'm travelling out of state soon though, that may not happen, since I'll be without computer access to be able to read PDF files. There are reviews up on Amazon already though, if you're interested.

Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to. Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children—with the best of intentions— have conspired to unite the worlds she’s so carefully kept separate for decades. A beautifully old-fashioned novel, The Walking People is a debut of remarkable range and power.

Quotes:

"Mary Beth Keane has produced a compelling drama of transatlantic Irish life, told with a truthfulness that is felt not only in the sweep and charm of the story but in its very sentences. The Walking People is an irresistible blend of narrative and syntactic authenticity."--Billy Collins, poet laureate of the United States, 2001-2003

 

"A marvel of originality and accomplishment. Keane writes about Ireland and the Irish in a completely new way; she explores the situation of "new" immigrants with a Balzacian eye for detail and the implications of class, money, and social situation. At the same time, she writes with a style that is simultaneously pellucid and poetic; many worlds come clear to us, the underworld of the "sandhogs," the countryside of the West of Ireland, the camps of the travelers, the counters of Macy's and Bloomingdales. This is an astonishing debut, and it marks the appearance of a truly major writer."--Mary Gordon, author of Circling My Mother

www.marybethkeane.com

THE RULES:

1) Books are coming from the publisher, so the drawing is open to US and Canada mailing addresses only. No PO Boxes please.

2) Simply comment below for one entry. I asked for influential books last time, so how about this time you just tell me what you're reading now, or read most recently? This is to avoid the boring 'enter me' comments. ALL comments MUST include an e-mail address I can use to contact you.

3) For an extra entry, blog about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with the direct link.

4) For another entry, follow me on Twitter (TiffanyAK) or tweet this giveaway. Leave a separate comment letting me know. If you followed last time, you'll need to tweet this time for the extra entry.

5) The giveaway will end on May 26th, and five winners will be drawn on May 27th. I will notify winners by e-mail, and they will have three days to get me their mailing info or I will be forced to draw another name.

Now that's all out of the way, go ahead and enter if you're interested in the book. I'll also be drawing winners for my first giveaway in the morning, so if you entered that one keep an eye out. Winners will be receiving e-mails shortly after I post the names here.

Thanks!