My Dream of You by Nuala O’Faolain
(Format used for this read: Print–hardback)
Set in Ireland and spanning a century and a half, My Dream of You unfolds the compelling stories of two women and their quests for passion, connection, and fulfillment. A globetrotting Irish travel writer, Kathleen de Burca is used to living—and loving—on the run. On the brink of fifty, she decides to leave her job and rethink her life. Intrigued by a divorce case dating back to the days of the Potato Famine, she tries hand at writing about it. The case, called “The Talbot Affair,” detailed the clandestine liaison between the wife of a British landlord and an Irish servant in Ireland in the 1850s. After a bitter thirty-year absence, Kathleen returns to Ireland, the land of her troubled childhood and turbulent heritage, in search of answers to her questions about desire and lasting love.
This book had so many reasons for me to love it, yall.
It was a treasure I found at a Goodwill for one dollar….I ADORE thrifting finds, ESPECIALLY books!
It takes place in Ireland which I truly LONG to visit one day.
It goes back and forth between the past and the present, and educates on the history of Ireland, especially during the time of the Potato Famine..I always appreciate learning while reading fiction, even if it is absolutely heartbreaking.
It has romance but that isn’t the sole focus of the book…it is more about Kathleen and her growth and discovery of who she is amidst all the lovers and non-lovers she’s had thru her life.
But uggggghhhhh, my bookworm buddies….I did NOT love this book like I so hoped I would.
If there were sound effects, this is when a strong WHOMP WHOMP WHOMMMMMM would come in.
This one was just hard to take in.
The story was soooooo slllloowwww paced…I can’t even remember when I started reading this book but I think it was sometime THIS SUMMER, yall.
That’s how long it took me to get thru it’s 500 pages!
I’d read it at night before bed and I swear I couldn’t get thru more than about 10 pages before I was falling asleep….EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT.
FOR MONTHS.
Plus, the author does not use quotation marks AT ALL, which I found to be confusing….that DEFINITELY jacked with my reading flow IMMENSELY.
I thought maybe this was an Irish author thing that I just didn’t know about….so I Googled before typing this review.
Apparently, it is NOT an exclusive Irish thing (shame on me for stereotyping!) and authors of all nationalties, backgrounds and time periods choose to write in this format for one reason or the other, mostly artistic choice.
Let me tell yall what….I HATED THIS PART OF THE WRITING SO SO SO SO MUCH.
I honestly think I’d view this book quite differently if the quotation marks would have been there, which sounds absolutely ridiculous to say.
I mean, the words on the page would still be the EXACT same, the dialogue would still say the EXACT same things….it shouldn’t impact the story at ALL in theory.
But OMGGGGG for me it totally DID!!!!
Maybe that’s my literary conditioning or whatever but I DON’T CARE….I need my quotation marks when I’m reading dialogue in a book!
Truly this part of the book I never got used to in all the 500 pages…I kept hoping each chapter I’d just get over it but nope.
So….. in summary, this book that I thought I would love? I DID NOT.
Oh the disappointment.
But I am BEYOND ready to move on from this has it has been on my nightstand for WAY TOO long.
BYEEEEEEEE.